Motherwell produced a commanding display to sweep aside Livingston and close to within two points of third-placed Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, with in-form Tawanda Maswanhise once again the standout performer.
The Zimbabwe international struck twice to take his league tally to 13 goals, moving him clear at the top of the scoring charts, as bottom-of-the-table Livingston offered little resistance for much of the afternoon.
Ironically, it was the hosts in West Lothian who should have opened the scoring.
Connor McLennan was played clean through after a neat move down the left, but Motherwell goalkeeper Calum Ward made a vital early save.
That missed chance proved costly.
With only a few minutes on the clock, Motherwell took the lead when Elijah Just delivered a long cross into the box and Maswanhise rose to glance a looping header over a stranded Jerome Prior.
Livingston managed to keep the deficit to a single goal for a spell, though not without fortune.
Paul McGinn had a header cleared off the line, Just struck the post when well placed, and Prior produced a fine save to deny Maswanhise. The goalkeeper stood no chance with the striker’s second.
Played in by Callum Slattery, Maswanhise opened his body and curled a composed finish into the far corner, underlining why he has been attracting interest from multiple clubs during the transfer window.
Motherwell remain fourth in the table but are firmly on the heels of Celtic and Rangers ahead of their fixtures tomorrow.
Livingston, meanwhile, are now six points adrift at the foot of the table following Kilmarnock’s emphatic win over Aberdeen.
Praise continues to flow for this Motherwell side - and performances like this only reinforce why.
Jens Berthel Askou’s team were assured, incisive and a level above their opponents, controlling the game from back to front after surviving an early scare.
That opening miss from McLennan may have been the wake-up call Motherwell needed.
Askou had spoken pre-match about balancing confidence with composure, and his side delivered exactly that after the brief wobble.
Maswanhise will inevitably grab the headlines, but he is far from the only one catching the eye.
Just, Slattery and Ibrahim Said all played their part, while Askou’s influence on this side is becoming increasingly clear.
Motherwell’s intensity dipped when Just was withdrawn, and their attacking edge dulled after Maswanhise made way, but by then the damage was already done, with an unforgiving schedule still to come.
For Livingston, the picture is far bleaker.
Despite David Martindale’s insistence before kick-off that his players are not focused on league position, this was a display weighed down by pressure and fragility.
Beyond McLennan’s early chance, Livingston created little of note, with their four shots dwarfed by Motherwell’s 14.
Their wide play lacked quality, and defensive lapses - familiar from last week’s defeat to Aberdeen - were again ruthlessly exposed.
Winless in 23 league matches, Livingston are edging closer to unwanted records, and despite their manager’s defiance, the trajectory is increasingly hard to ignore.
