Motherwell returned from Ayrshire empty-handed, having played over 70 minutes with ten men on the pitch. Shortly after Kilmarnock’s opener, Kofi Balmer was given his marching orders following contact on the follow-through with a Killie player.
From then on, the game was killed as a contest, with Derek McInnes’ side having large spells of possession. They doubled their lead seven minutes after the interval from a corner, which secured the win for the hosts.
However, with Hearts failing to register a win against Dundee United, the race for top-six will go down to the wire on Saturday, with Motherwell, Hearts and St Mirren all in contention.