Motherwell FalkirkSNS

At a glance

  • Said hits crossbar in first half as Fadinger denied by Bain from close range

  • Johansson maintains unbeaten start to Motherwell tenure

  • Falkirk pick up first Premiership point

Motherwell v Falkirk highlights

9/8/2026

Watch on iPlayer
Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park

Alfred Johansson maintained his unbeaten start to life as Motherwell manager, but his side failed to breakdown Falkirk as the pair played out a lively draw in the Scottish Premiership.

John McGlynn's side were unbeaten against the Steelmen last season - and were victorious on both visits to Fir Park - proving to be a real bogey team for then-boss Jens Berthel Askou.

And they were stubborn here in Lanarkshire once more against a Motherwell side who showed no fatigue from their exploits in Conference League qualifying in midweek.

On the back foot for much of the first half, the Bairns - with seven changes from last weekend's defeat by St Mirren - were much better after the break as the game opened up, allowing for an end-to-end encounter.

Ethan Ross, who was a late call-up to the starting line-up after Joe Gardner got injured in the warm-up, was their biggest threat, firing a few near things, while debutant Finley Barbrook was busy as Falkirk ended the game on top on their way to picking up their first point this term.

On his return to the Well side, having missed the trip to face HJK Helsinki due to visa issues, the influential Ibrahim Said rattled the crossbar before Lukas Fadinger was denied by Bairns goalkeeper Scott Bain after picking up a lovely little through ball in the first half.

Second-half substitutes Alex Lowry and Johnny Koutroumbis blazed efforts high as Motherwell's wait for a first league win over Falkirk since October 2009 goes on.

Analysis: Priestman pulls strings as new-look Bairns take time to gel

Early days, of course, but it's remarkable really how seamlessly Motherwell have picked up where they left off last term - despite the loss of their manager and a number of their most instrumental players.

In the first half especially, they sprayed the ball around, routinely finding acres of space.

Emmanuel Longelo was, inexplicably, left unmarked time and time again and the potent Oscar Priestman often found him. The midfielder really did have a tremendous opening hour or so pulling the strings.

However, it was no surprise that when he was shut out of the game, things started falling for Falkirk. In fact, Motherwell's midfield were a bit lost for the last 30 minutes or so.

Much improved in the second half, the new Falkirk faces found each other a bit more and started to operate like a unit.

They're very much still in transition, but a clean sheet against a confident Steelmen side will boost the Bairns as they head off into an early-season break already.

What they said

Falkirk boss John McGlynn: "Great work rate from the whole team, we knew we'd have to do that coming here, Motherwell pass the ball so well and the bottom line for us was to work hard and make it difficult for them.

"There's loads of positives to take from the game, given where we were last week, the attitude was great, commitment was great. That's the minimum standard we should get."

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson "If you take into account the last 20 minutes of the game I think it's a good point.

"Falkirk grew into the game and we kind of grew out of it. We will take the point. It's a game we created a couple of chances and we could have converted better and scored a goal but I think the performance in the second half, we expect more from each other."

What's next?

Motherwell are back at home on Thursday for the second leg of their Conference League third qualifying round tie against HJK Helsinki (19:30 BST).

Having failed to progress in the League Cup, Falkirk have a free weekend and are not back in action until Saturday, 22 August against Heart of Midlothian (15:00).

Player of the match

F. Barbrook
8.67
7 T. Sparrow
5.88
12 O. Priestman
5.81
45 E. Longelo
5.76
19 I. Said
5.76
8 L. Fadinger
5.75
5 M. Moormann
5.71
1 A. Paulsen
5.65
4 J. Knight-Lebel
5.61
3 J. Girdwood-Reich
5.33
22 J. Koutroumbis
5.22
17 Regan Charles-Cook
5.00
11 A. Lowry
4.90
27 M. Booth
4.75
77 W. Vogt
4.69
18 T. Maswanhise
4.53
23 E. Wilson
4.20
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