'Lethal finisher' enters Scottish football in St Mirren vs Motherwell chaos as six-goal thriller assessed
St Mirren and Motherwell came to blows in a six-goal thriller during a Premiership draw.
Alfred Johansson reckons new Motherwell signing Jardell Kanga will be ‘one to watch’ in Scottish football after scoring a 93rd minute debut leveller during their 3-3 draw at St Mirren.
Jake Young passed up a golden chance near full-time to win the Premiership game for the hosts in Paisley before Kanga - signed from Finnish side Ilves on Friday - blasted an excellent strike into the top corner. St Mirren are on seven points from an available nine ahead of Kilmarnock midweek so far while Motherwell have five prior to hosting Dundee United.
The Steelmen were two goals up through Tawanda Maswanhise - who also missed a penalty - and Regan Charles-Cook as they showed no signs of fatigue following their Conference League exit versus Freiburg less then 72 hours earlier. Saints rallied with a barnstorming nine-minute goal rush, Paul Nsio, Declan John and Samuel Ramos striking between minute 39 and 48 towards the first half’s end. Johansson reckons Kanga is a star who’ll excite onlookers as he assessed his side’s up and down display.
How did Jardell Kanga get on vs Motherwell?
“It’s brilliant for him to go on and score in his first game,” Motherwell manager Johansson said. “Bringing us the point with that goal, obviously, that's a big thing for everyone. Nice for him to tick that box straight away from the first game. I think he is a player that we know is a lethal finisher but he is a player that also is creative, and can combine with others, and set up other players with the last pass and so on, playing in small spaces.
“So, yeah, I think he will be a player to watch in the last third of the pitch. It's a great start to the game that makes me excited for this group of players, the level that we show as a team. I'm obviously hugely disappointed and put off on the fact that we finished the first half really, really poor. I'm obviously proud, impressed once again with the spirit of this group of players.”
Buddies boss Craig McLeish meanwhile was gutted to lose three points at the death in a game that came without star man Killian Phillips. The Irish midfielder has been subject of transfer speculation ahead of Thursday’s deadline day but missed this with a shine injury picked up in their Premier Sports Cup exit to Rangers earlier this month.
Will Killian Phillips stay at St Mirren?
“We've not managed to get him on the pitch,” said McLeish. “He's probably going to maybe miss another week, but the disappointing bit is we had such a cluster of games in that week. We just need to let it settle down and see how he is. He couldn't make it and he's probably out for the next week or so before we get him back on the training pitch.
“Nothing else official has come in. I know there's a lot of talk and there will be a lot of interest, but we're relaxed about it. Killian's relaxed about it. If something comes along that's too good for him to turn down, or too good for the club to turn down, then we have to look at it. We're all quite relaxed about it. If we play like that throughout the season, then we can go and achieve something, as a group. It hurts right now but it’s fine margins in football. We felt like we deserved to win.”
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