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‘Fire and ice’ the key for Dundee as Hearts win lays blueprint for Premiership season ahead

The Dark Blues ran out 1-0 winners against the Jambos and earned a deserved three points.

Dundee celebrate their winner against Hearts. Image: David Young/Shutterstock
Dundee celebrate their winner against Hearts. Image: David Young/Shutterstock

“Fire and ice” was the key to Dundee’s win over Hearts – and it will be crucial for the season to come.

Luke McCowan’s stunning strike split the teams at Dens Park on Sunday.

However, there was far more to the Dark Blues performance than just that one moment.

A first Premiership clean sheet of the campaign kept out Scotland international Lawrence Shankland, Northern Ireland international Liam Boyce, Japan international Kyosuke Tagawa and youth internationals Yutaro Oda and Kenneth Vargas.

There were some hairy moments for the Dundee defence but goalkeeper Trevor Carson had few saves to make.

Possession – or what you do with it?

The match stats tell us plenty – Dundee were more than happy to let Hearts have possession of the ball in certain areas.

Dundee FC v Hearts match stats and xG race chart (right). Image: StatsBomb.

Particularly in the first half they could knock it around the back, into midfield and back – but more often than not the ball was indeed going back rather than forwards.

And a Frankie Kent header from a corner aside, it was Dundee who looked far more of a threat, despite having far less of the ball.

After the break the arrival of Boyce and Cammy Devlin combined with Alex Lowry moving wide had the Jambos right on top of their hosts.

They were dominating, chances were coming. Until they gave the ball away to the wrong man in the wrong place and McCowan made them pay.

Luke McCowan celebrates against Hearts. Image: SNS
Luke McCowan celebrates against Hearts. Image: SNS

But that ability to cope without the ball is crucial for any newly-promoted team, ‘sufferball’ it’s called when the masters like Atletico Madrid do it.

‘Fire and ice’

And it’s something Tony Docherty is training his side to do.

“That’s important when you are the newly promoted team. You have to be comfortable in your shape and when you are not in possession,” Docherty said.

“It’s hard work without the ball but you have fire and ice thing, being up and then calming down and playing passes.

Tony Docherty watches on as Dundee beat Hearts. Image: SNS
Tony Docherty watches on as Dundee beat Hearts. Image: SNS

“We exhibited that well on Sunday. I thought we were the better team and worthy of the three points.

“The clean sheet was very important too. I said to the boys at half time that a clean sheet is not just a back four and keeper thing.

“It’s a whole team effort and we carried out our plan to the letter and the goal was worthy of winning any game.

“I do think when they made their changes it made a difference but we weathered it and we got stronger.

Dundee FC midfielder Malachi Boateng takes on Kye Rowles. Image: David Young/Shutterstock
Dundee FC midfielder Malachi Boateng takes on Kye Rowles. Image: David Young/Shutterstock

“I was really pleased with the endeavour of the boys and the intelligence when we did not have possession.

“You need to be patient without the ball and clinical when you have it.

“I was really pleased with the job we did on Sunday.”

Top performers

Stat radars for attacking midfielder Luke McCowan (left) and full-back Cammy Kerr (right). Images: StatsBomb.
Stat radars for attacking midfielder Luke McCowan (left) and full-back Cammy Kerr (right). Images: StatsBomb.

Cammy Kerr came into the side for his first league start of the season and set the tone with a thunderous tackle in front of the South Enclosure early on.

He had it tough against Lowry at the start of the second half but came back strong as the match wore on.

A quick look at the stats bears that out – Kerr had more than double the ‘aggressive actions’ of any other Dee with 25, more ‘defensive actions’ than any of his team-mates and more ‘regains’ than anyone else with 8.

Cammy Kerr wins the ball back for his team. Image: SNS
Cammy Kerr wins the ball back for his team against Yutaro Oda. Image: SNS

He had double the tackles of any Dundee player and more interceptions. However, he was dribbled past five times, far more than anyone else.

On the ball, McCowan made 43 open-play passes (next on the list is Joe Shaughnessy on 29) and also carried the ball more than the rest of his team.

He also had three shots, Zach Robinson the only Dundee player having more with four.

Those two stood out in the stats but this was a whole team performance.

And a blueprint for a successful Premiership campaign.

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