Wednesday February 18th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Adam Bowen
Spartans travelled to Tannadice Park last night to continue their incredible Scottish Cup run.
Dundee United had five changes in their starting 11 from their win over Falkirk on the weekend; Spartans made two changes following their draw with Edinburgh City.
It was Dundee Utd who came out the blocks flying with the first shot of the game deflected for a corner after just 1 minute.
It was again the men in tangerine that won another stat; this one being the first yellow card of the game for Fatah, after he pulled a Spartans player back on the counter-attack.
The pitch was not in great condition last night which may have been the reason for Tapping coming off the pitch briefly to change his boots after 10 mins.
A massive talking point of the game came in the 12th minute when Spartans number 11 Cameron Russel drove with ball down the left wing covering a fair amount of ground beating multiple players before knocking the ball around “the last man” Lovu for himself to run onto. However, Lovu put his body in front with no intention of playing the ball bodychecking him.
Lovu was sent off, it was unclear if the reasoning was a deliberate shoulder to the face or denying a goal scoring opportunity, however Dundee United’s captain cleared up in the press conference after, that the referee explained to him that it was the latter. With no VAR the decision stood much to the fans discontent.
It had been a good start for Spartans now they had to only play against ten.
After twenty minutes, United had multiple good plays down the left however everytime they cut it back a Spartans player was there to clear.
Around the 25 minute mark Sonkur played a great ball up for the striker to touch down laying off Whyte who drove forward however his outside of the box shot was wide.
Dundee United had numerous corners in the first half and it was the one in the 31st minute which they utilised; a great ball in by Ferry to the front post met the leaping United captain Graham directing the ball into the back of the net.
Spartans later lost the ball in their own half leading to United playing a ball into the box which the shot didn’t connect well but Spartans headed it straight back to an orange shirt in the box before the shot flew way over the bar.
A big blow for Spartans came in the 44th minute when Tapping pulled up whilst in possession of the ball, leading to Nair replacing him.
Spartans had a good passage of play down the right wing during the 4 minutes of additional time, knocking the ball around fast before the ball came to Whyte who was tussling with his defender trying to get a shot off before the defender pretty much put his body on the line, scrambling, leading to a corner kick. Nothing came from the corner leaving the score at half time – Dundee United 1-0 Spartans
In the second half some magic feet from Camara, before playing the ball through, nearly led to a goal however the shot was blocked.
Spartans came out more aggressive this half winning a couple of corners. A great chance came from one of these when Sonkur rose for Spartans but his header was just wide.
Not long after in the 55th minute a brilliant run by Dolcek followed by him playing a trivela pass that led to confusion as two of United’s attacking players didn’t know which one should take it. Fatah took the reins, driving the ball forward before slotting it past the keeper making it 2-0.
Jim Goodwin who was very vocal in the first half took this opportunity to make a triple substitution with Fatah, Watters and Dolcek all coming off and Stirton, Sapsford and Farrugia all coming onto the pitch.
The referee was really enjoying his yellow card as he had already given multiple out during the game before booking Sibbald in the 63rd minute for kicking the ball away despite him apologising straight away.
Just before the 70th minute a good ball in from Spartans right side led to some great feet in the box forcing a save from Maynard- Brewer leading to another shot that was deflected for a corner.
A great counter by United came to nothing after Camara shot wide following Farrugia’s cut back.
During a Spartans counter attack the fans were adamant that their player had been pulled back in the box but the referee gave nothing.
Not long after, in the 79th minute, a good ball in from Spartans on the right wing was kept in by Nair laying off another substitute, Stowe, who hit it first time looping over the keeper, a bit like a cross, into the middle of the goal.
The game was very much back on and Spartans kept piling the pressure
A scramble in the box led to the Spartans fans screaming for a penalty again but nothing was given.
A bad header back by Dundee gave the ball to Spartans in the box before the Spartans man fell over, again the fans screamed for a penalty.
Stirton did a great job tracking back just before the 90th minute winning the ball back before nutmegging the Spartans player driving forward playing a ball over to Sapsford however, he believed he was in an offside position so left the ball.
The two of them had a few opportunities working the ball in counter attacking situations in the last 15 minutes of the game but ultimately didn’t lead to anything.
Spartans kept piling the pressure in the 4 additional minutes with a ball played in for Sonkur who didn’t trouble the keeper.
The Dundee United counter-attack continued to go for it but they couldn’t finish any of their moves off.
Every Spartans player kept fighting until the very end with even the keeper having to win a header against Stirton way outside of his box.
Ultimately the final whistle went and Dundee United progress in the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory over Spartans.
The majority of the Spartans players dropped to the floor at the whistle after giving their all.
Spartans’ manager Douglas Samuel said that his boys were ‘fantastic’ following tonight’s game. He was very happy with what the boys had achieved and touched on the point that this wasn’t the first time they had done very well in the Scottish Cup.
Jim Goodwin said that they are in the next round of the Scottish cup and that’s ‘all that matters’ as well as saying that if he was offered a 2-1 victory with 10 men with 80 minutes to go he would of ‘snapped a hand of you’ showing that he was happy with his players performance and looks forward to a trip to Falkirk in the quarter finals.
Tweet Share on Facebook
