Motherwell 0 - 2 Levante: Familiar errors punished as ‘Well have it all to do in Spain

MOTHERWELL can look forward to little else but some late Spanish summer sunshine when they visit Valencia next week, a trip which will assuredly end their involvement in continental competition for the season.

Bridging the obvious gulf in class which exists between the SPL and La Liga proved beyond Stuart McCall’s team against a slick Levante side who were not prepared to play the role of rookies in what was their largely unheralded club’s first ever European fixture.

Goals from impressive attacking midfielder Juanlu and substitute Nabil El Zhar earned the seeded side a commanding and fully deserved first leg lead in this Europa League Play-off round tie, with Motherwell’s misery compounded in the closing stages when defender Shaun Hutchinson was sent off. It was yet another evening which cruelly underlined why Scottish football’s standing in Europe has plummeted so far in recent years.

Having found themselves out of their depth in the Champions League third qualifying round against Panathinaikos, the Fir Park side could hardly be said to have been presented with any less daunting a Europa League assignment against opponents who finished sixth in the Spanish championship last season.

McCall attempted to marry pragmatism with adventure, setting his team out in a 4-4-1-1 formation which had Henrik Ojamaa operating in a supporting role behind central striker Michael Higdon. Motherwell looked to get their wide midfield players Chris Humphrey and Jamie Murphy on the ball as often as possible in an attempt to take the initiative.

Both men posed questions of the Levante defence, Murphy threatening in the seventh minute with some fine play down the left and a dangerous low cross which was cut out at the near post by central defender David Navarro. Moments later, Navarro was much less convincing when he was robbed in possession by Humphrey on the other flank but the winger directed his cross straight to goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Levante responded in kind to Motherwell’s sprightly start, only with far more menace. Vicente Iborra was the first to cause anxiety in the home defence when he saw a long-range shot blocked by Hutchinson and then seized on the rebound to force a save from Darren Randolph.

If that was a fairly routine contribution from the Motherwell goalkeeper, he had to extend himself shortly afterwards when he got down well to save a 20 yard shot from the lively Michel. The home team were stretched at the back when Juanlu forced his way to the byeline and delivered a low cutback which Pedro Lopez slid wide of the target.

The signs were becoming ominous for McCall’s men and his captain Keith Lasley was booked as he attempted to disrupt the flow of Levante’s play, the midfielder perhaps even fortunate not to see red for a reckless foul on Juanlu. That said, it was gratifying to see Finnish referee Antti Munukka then caution Michel when the Levante man, having been obstructed by Lasley, theatrically waved an imaginary card in an attempt to have his opponent sent off.

The performance of 19-year-old central defender Adam Cummins, making only his fourth senior appearance for Motherwell, was among the most pleasing aspects of their work. The teenager appeared unfazed by the occasion and rightly went unpunished for a magnificent challenge on Nikolaos Karabelas on the edge of the penalty area. The Levante player was unfortunately carried off on a stretcher, replaced by El Zhar, but Cummins’ intervention had been quite legitimate.

Just as McCall would have been welcoming the prospect of getting his players into the dressing room with no damage sustained, Levante made their deserved breakthrough three minutes from the interval. With the Motherwell defence claiming for offside against Theofanis Gekas, play was waved on as the Greek striker halted and had no part in a move which saw Juanlu sprint clear into the area and steer a low shot beyond Randolph into the corner of the net.

Levante clearly sensed the possibility of putting the tie out of Motherwell’s reach and Randolph needed to be at his most alert to deny them twice in the initial exchanges of the second half. The big Irishman raced off his line to pluck the ball off the toes of El Zhar as he looked to latch onto Michel’s defence-dissecting pass. The goalkeeper then repeated the feat, this time hurling himself at the feet of Gekas when the striker burst clear into the penalty area.

Motherwell responded and might easily have equalised when Ojamaa collected Nicky Law’s incisive pass, but the briefest of hesitation allowed Vicente Iborra to make a terrific blocking challenge. There was another sight of goal for Ojamaa almost immediately, but the

Estonian scuffed his shot wide of Navas’ right-hand post.

It was all too predictable when Levante countered and made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute to burst the bubble of renewed optimism among the Motherwell fans. Christian Lell foraged his way into space on the right and his low cross picked out the unmarked El Zhar who made no mistake with a simple side-footed finish beyond Randolph from around ten yards.

McCall made a double substitution, replacing Ojamaa and Humphrey with Bob McHugh and Fraser Kerr, but Motherwell’s hopes of reclaiming some kind of foothold in the contest further diminished with Hutchinson’s dismissal with 13 minutes remaining.

The big defender could have no complaints, receiving a straight red card for crudely denying Gekas a clear goalscoring opportunity on the edge of the penalty area.

Motherwell: R Randolph, Hateley, Hutchinson, Cummins, Hammell; Humphrey (Kerr 68), Lasley, Law (Carswell 86), Murphy; Ojamaa (McHugh 68); Higdon. Subs not used: Hollis, Daley, Francis-Angol, Hetherington.

Levante: Navas, Lell, Ballesteros, Navarro, Karabelas (El Zhar 40); Iborra, Barkero; Lopez, Michel (Pallardo 66), Juanlu (Serrano 76); Gekas. Subs not used: Munua, Rodas, Angel, Serrano.