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Iain Vigurs' late strike at Inverness moved Motherwell into second place in the Scottish Premiership.

Henri Anier latched on to Fraser Kerr's long ball to stab in off the post beyond the deputising Ryan Esson and give the visitors a half-time lead.

Ryan Christie drove in his first goal for Inverness after Greg Tansey had rattled the post as the hosts hit back.

But the home side's comeback was short lived as Vigurs struck against his old club in the final ten minutes.

The winning goal came against the run of play with John Hughes's side pinning the visitors back for much of the second-half without creating too much.

It was a 19th league win for Motherwell and improves on their record against top-six clubs just in time as they take over pole position in the battle for Europa League spots, although Aberdeen can leapfrog them with a win at Hearts on Wednesday.

Esson made his first appearance of the season, with Danny Devine and Carl Tremarco also given starts for Inverness.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper was called into action early, punching away Vigurs in-swinging free-kick.

Esson was again busy when Craig Reid struck from 30 yards but both sides looked comfortable as half-time approached until Anier broke the deadlock.

Kerr's long ball through the middle split open the defence, allowing the Estonian striker to run through before finishing low inside the post.

Inverness were booed off by a frustrated home support at the break, but they responded in the second-half.

Tansey was thwarted by Stephen McManus' block, before unleashing a thunderous long shot moments later which cracked off the post.

Substitute Ryan Christie grabbed a deserved equaliser with a sweetly struck strike finding the corner of the net from 25-yards despite being knocked off balance.

The home side looked the most likely to find a winner, but when they were caught out by a quick counter-attach Vigurs and Craig Moore exchanged passes before the former Inverness man finished beyond Esson to seal maximum points for Stuart McCall's side.