[Sport] Livingston moved up to ninth in the Scottish Premiership as Dundee United ended a week of headlines with defeat.

[_Happy boy]

 

Minus nine players and their first-team management staff because of Covid-19 protocols, the visitors threatened through Adrian Sporle's free-kick.

Having been second best in the first half, Livi improved in the second and Scott Pittman scored with a fine run and shot.

Marvin Bartley leapt to volley in the hosts' second following a set piece.

Livingston, who now have two wins out of two under caretaker boss David Martindale, are a point above Hamilton and a point behind St Johnstone while Dundee United remain sixth, one point adrift of Motherwell.

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The visitors, without top scorer Nicky Clark and with youth coach Thomas Courts in the dugout, started brightly and Sporle's free-kick bounced wide.

United continued to enjoy plenty of territory but could not convert it into chances.

Livingston were much more of an attacking threat in the second period and Bartley almost put them in front with a powerful strike that brought out the best in Benjamin Siegrist.

However, the Swiss goalkeeper could do nothing as Pittman slammed the ball into the bottom right corner after the midfielder had carried from deep.

Home defender Jon Guthrie could not keep his shot down moments later and Josh Mullin tested Siegrist from a wide angle.

But Bartley made sure of the points at a corner, pouncing after the ball broke off Mark Connolly in the six-yard box.

What did we learn?
Maybe it was the rain, perhaps it was the cold temperature, but neither side could really get out of second gear in the first half.

Livingston still at times miss a commanding presence in attack since Lyndon Dykes' departure but a change of approach in the second half that encouraged midfielders to go beyond striker Matej Poplatnik paid dividends.

Dundee United made three changes to their starting line, but one of those was down to Calum Butcher's suspension, indicating that Paul McMullan and Clark are among the nine players in isolation.

Clark's absence was felt the most with neither Marc McNulty nor Lawrence Shankland able to really trouble the Livingston defence until Shankland tested Max Stryjek late on.

What did they say?

Livingston caretaker boss David Martindale: "First half was a wee bit nervy. I thought we got to grips with the game from around 25 minutes onwards and we started dominating our style of play in the game.

"In the Premiership, if you can get the first goal games are a lot easier. It's nice and pleasing to score the first goal because it changes the dynamics of the game and it makes clean sheets that little bit easier because you've got something to hold on to."

Dundee United coach Thomas Courts: "I don't think [the Covid-19 issues] had a lot of impact. The way that they started the game, you can tell that they were together, there was a spirit there. It was a really mature performance in the first 45.

"In the second half, you started to see the game slipping away from us. The second half was suiting Livingston far more than Dundee United. That's the frustration and disappointment."