Dundee’s return to the Premiership wasn’t spectacular but there are causes for optimism for the season ahead.
A steady start to life back in the big time was an acceptable one, particularly after falling behind in the opening half.
Theo Bair opened the scoring at the end of that first 45, Motherwell capitalising on Lee Ashcroft’s missed clearance to punish the Dee.
But Lyall Cameron was on hand with his head to knock in the leveller midway through the second period and chances were there to take all three points.
Youngster Cameron rightly drew the headlines for a goal displaying his smart movement on the pitch, finding space at the far post to finish.
Luke McCowan drew plenty of praise as well but there are others who stood out.
Courier Sport trawled the stats with the help of our partners StatsBomb to pick out some key indicators for optimism in the season ahead.
Team
Dundee’s main issue in the Viaplay Cup was the lack of a killer touch – plenty of chances and opportunities to create chances but the finish or final ball lacking.
Motherwell was obviously a step up in class compared to matches against lower league outfits.
However, there was a similar theme to their play.
Plenty to like about the performance and there were plenty of efforts on goal – in fact only Rangers and Celtic (both 18) bettered Dundee’s 17 over the opening weekend.
Of those 17, however, only two were on target – the goal and a Joe Shaughnessy header cleared off the line.
Liam Kelly didn’t stop any goal-bound shots all afternoon.
It was largely an even game with ’Well having more of the ball (58% to 42%) and 13 shots of their own.
Measuring the quality of chances, however, Dundee were ahead on xG (1.23 to 0.94) so can feel a little bit hard done by.
That didn’t take into account the defensive deflection that turned a Cameron cross onto the post at 1-1.
Dundee defence
The standout defender in the game was Dundee skipper Shaughnessy.
Not only did he make a goal-saving block in the final minutes, flicking a Lennon Miller strike wide of the post, but he made more clearances than anyone on the park.
In fact, he made double the clearances of his two central defensive mates Lee Ashcroft and Jordan McGhee – 14 to seven each.
Only Alex Gogic of St Mirren made as many across the six weekend Premiership matches.
Attack
Cameron took the plaudits for the goal and rightly so but gave the ball away more than any other player on the park.
McCowan, too, was in fine form.
He was the main route into the strikers and Cameron with more open-play passes than any other Dee and had more ball carries than anyone else on the park as well.
McCowan was also fouled five times, Motherwell’s Callum Slattery won the most across the Premiership matches with six.
The Dundee man also got three shots in on goal, the most of any player in dark blue apart from Josh Mulligan.
The only sub made by Docherty across the 90 minutes stands out in the stats.
In his 84 minutes, Mulligan made more tackles than any other player and had the most Dundee dribbles.
Of those four dribbles, three were successful – only Kilmarnock’s Corrie Ndaba made more on the opening weekend.
Elsewhere, Malachi Boateng made more interceptions (four) than any other player on the park.
So there are plenty causes for optimism in dark blue from their Premiership opener – the final third is where improvement is needed, however.
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