Ciftci wins Robinson praise after striker snatches point for Well

Posted Sunday, February 04, 2018 by PA

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson was delighted for Nadir Ciftci after the striker earned his side a point with his first goal for the club.

Ciftci produced the touch of class Motherwell needed after falling behind to Partick Thistle when he turned and fired low into the corner from 16 yards to seal a 1-1 Ladbrokes Premiership draw in the 79th minute.

The former Dundee United forward had not scored since May 2016 when he was on loan with Turkish side Eskisehirspor, having played for Celtic, Polish side Pogon Szczecin and Plymouth since then.

Robinson, who started with Craig Tanner just off Ciftci and Curtis Main, said: “I’m delighted for him. Nadir can sometimes frustrate us because he tries things all the time, but he is the difference at times. He has set two goals up and he has scored one now. Curtis has scored as well so there is a promising partnership there.

“I think all three of the boys up front can be better than they were, I’m sure they will be the first to say that, but they do nick points and win games for you.”

After a poor first half, Motherwell thought they had scored when Tom Aldred fired a diving header towards goal, but Ciftci and then Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny prevented the ball going into the net.

The Jags took the lead two minutes later through Kris Doolan’s 53rd-minute free header, but Motherwell gradually increased the pressure.

Robinson said: “We didn’t deserve the three points because we didn’t mark properly from a free-kick. We’re a young team, we do switch off and make mistakes at times and we will deal with that, and the person who made the mistake will recover from that.

“But we did have a lot of opportunities, perhaps not clear-cut. Tom has had a great chance from the header that hits Nadir and they go up the other end and score.

“I didn’t think there was a lot in the game, but I think we edged it on chances.”

Thistle boss Alan Archibald felt his side should have seen out the victory.

“Our shape was reasonably good, I thought we were comfortable,” he said. “We dealt with a lot of balls into the box, it was just that one. We should still deal with it, if we keep Ciftci away from goal. He gets a half-chance and he takes it. We should see the game out.

“We put a lot of effort into it. We will probably look back on it as a good point, it’s a hard place to come.

“I didn’t think there was a lot in the game, it was probably a horrible game to watch, I felt it was, but we more than matched them in that key area in the middle area of the pitch.”