Dundee United 4
Ayr United 0
League (Championship)
Dundee United |
4 - 0 |
Ayr United |
 |
League (Championship) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Sam Stanton (42) Lawrence Shankland (pen.) (57) Nicky Clark (61) Ian Harkes (87) |
None. |
| Team Managers | |
| Robbie Neilson |
Mark Kerr |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
1. Benji Siegrist 6. Mark Reynolds 17. Jamie Robson 2. Liam Smith 44. Paul Watson 18. Calum Butcher 23. Ian Harkes 12. Sam Stanton 10. Nicky Clark 7. Paul McMullan 24. Lawrence Shankland |
Ross Doohan .1 Daniel Harvie .3 Steven Bell .15 Jordan Houston .31 Aaron Muirhead .2 Mark Kerr .4 Alan Forrest .10 Ross Docherty .23 Luke McCowan .11 Stephen Kelly .30 Craig Moore .9 |
| Bench | |
|
13. Deniz Mehmet 5. Mark Connolly 19. Troy Brown 3. Adrián Sporle 25. Adam King 27. Louis Appéré 11. Cammy Smith |
Ellis Hare Reid .19 Finn Ecrepont .21 Sam Roscoe .5 Mark McKenzie .22 Craig McGuffie .12 Andrew Geggan .6 Michael Moffat .7 |
| Substitutions | |
|
Louis Appéré for Paul McMullan (71) Mark Connolly for Mark Reynolds (71) Adam King for Calum Butcher (77) |
Craig McGuffie for Luke McCowan (48) Andrew Geggan for Ross Docherty (69) Michael Moffat for Craig Moore (73) |
| Cautions | |
| Calum Butcher (74) |
Mark Kerr (56) Craig Moore (72) |
| Red Cards | |
| None. |
Mark Kerr (56) |
| Match Officials | |
|
Greg Aitken (Referee) |
Match Report
Runaway Scottish Championship leaders Dundee United roared to their ninth straight win by thumping Ayr United.
Sam Stanton opened the scoring before Ayr were reduced to 10 men after player-manager Mark Kerr was shown a second yellow for bringing down Stanton in the area.
Lawrence Shankland scored the resultant penalty, then set up Nicky Clark for the third before Ian Harkes' strike.
It means United are 13 points clear of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Their next game is against city rivals Dundee on Friday, while Ayr in third take on Queen of the South.
Dundee United manager Robbie Neilson: "I was delighted to get the result and I thought the second half was far better.
"The teams around us won so it was very important to get the win to set us up for the derby."
Match report written by BBC
Squad Statistics (as at December 21st, 2019)
| 2019-20 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Ross Doohan (GK) | 21 |
|
22 | - | 69 | - |
| Jordan Houston | 19 |
|
14 | - | 14 | - |
| Steven Bell | 34 |
|
11 | - | 58 | 3 |
| Daniel Harvie | 21 |
|
22 | 1 | 66 | 1 |
| Aaron Muirhead | 29 |
|
19 | - | 30 | 1 |
| Mark Kerr | 37 |
|
13 | - | 57 | - |
| Stephen Kelly | 19 |
|
22 | 5 | 22 | 5 |
| Luke McCowan | 22 |
|
21 | 8 | 35 | 10 |
| Ross Docherty | 26 |
|
21 | 2 | 144 | 8 |
| Alan Forrest | 23 |
|
22 | 8 | 234 | 53 |
| Craig Moore | 25 |
|
9 | 3 | 123 | 51 |
| Craig McGuffie (sub) | 22 |
|
13 | 3 | 108 | 10 |
| Andrew Geggan (sub) | 32 |
|
18 | 1 | 128 | 15 |
| Michael Moffat (sub) | 34 |
|
23 | 6 | 268 | 97 |
League Table (as at December 21st, 2019)
No league table has been added for this season.