Dundee United edge Hamilton Academical in five-goal thriller

Dundee United have leapfrogged Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership table by recording a 3-2 victory over their opponents at New Douglas Park this evening.

Following a quiet start to the match, the visitors made the breakthrough towards the end of the first half when Stuart Armstrong was found in space 25 yards out from goal, before firing a powerful strike into the corner.

The Terrors held onto their lead going into the break and within 20 seconds of the restart they grabbed a second, as Gary Mackay-Steven was played through on goal by Armstrong and he kept his composure to place a low shot past Michael McGovern.

Dundee were threatening to run away with the match, but the hosts managed to pull a goal back in the 57th minute when Jesus Garcia Tena curled a free kick into the top corner.

Hamilton were boosted by the goal and they equalised 13 minutes later when Ali Crawford raced through and saw his initial shot saved by Radoslaw Cierzniak, before turning in the rebound.

It took Dundee eight minutes to regain their lead as Sean Dillon powered in a header from Chris Erskine's corner.

Within a minute Hamilton almost equalised again as Crawford latched on to a pass inside the box, before lifting the ball over the bar.

In the closing stages Dundee looked the more likely to score the next goal and McGovern denied Armstrong and Erskine with a double save, but they managed to hold on to their narrow lead as they moved into the top three.