Dundee fans at Dens Park saw a rare thing on Saturday – a home defeat under Tony Docherty.
The 2-1 reverse against Hibs was just the second on home turf since the manager’s arrival in the summer.
It was also the third match after an international break and the third time they’ve failed to win, following a 3-0 defeat at Celtic and a scoreless draw with Ross County.
This one was a mixed bag for the Dee – second best for a large section of the game but also creating enough chances to get something.
Courier Sport was there to pick out the key talking points.
Off-colour Dark Blues
The opening period of the game was all Hibs.
Their style is possession based, Dundee’s is the opposite – before this game the Dark Blues had kept the least possession in the division and made the least amount of passes.
They tried to pounce on errors at the back from the visiting defence but, when Hibs played their way through, Jair Tavares made the difference with the opening goal.
Hibs were good money for that lead and the Dark Blues looked slightly off it.
🟢 Hibs leapfrog Dundee into fifth in the #cinchPrem table after beating them 2-1, with the Edinburgh side being reduced to ten-men with half an hour to play ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/C5EZaO41lD
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) November 25, 2023
That feeling probably stems from the levels they’ve reached in recent weeks.
The standard has been set across the board and, as a team, they fell a little short.
Owen Beck and Luke McCowan were impressive but there were a few not quite on their game. Amadou Bakayoko and Antonio Portales have certainly played better of late.
And the second goal will rankle, too. Only the second they’ve conceded from a set-piece in the Premiership, it was incredibly simple – good ball in from Joe Newell, Lewis Miller gets above Jordan McGhee and it’s in the net.
However, despite the slightly below-par performance, Hibs had to rely on some fantastic goalkeeping from David Marshall.
He denied McCowan twice in the first half and then a third time late on. Bakayoko had a chance deflect into the keeper’s arms and it took Beck two goes to get it past the Scotland hero.
So there are positives to take but this was a clear example for the Dundee squad – if everyone isn’t on their game and you’re up against a good team, points are going to be very hard to come by.
Owen Beck
Dundee loanee Beck has been outstanding since he arrived from Liverpool.
Once more, he impressed in dark blue. Defensively sound, Beck loves a tackle, loves an interception, loves setting goals up and doesn’t mind a yellow card.
What he was missing was a goal. The closest he’d come was against Hibs back in September when, that man, Marshall denied Beck a certain winner late on.
Finally, though, the goal came for Beck.
Huge credit goes to substitute Charlie Reilly for his weaving run from the right flank that found Beck in space on the left.
Smashed goalwards, Beck was quickest to the rebound and found the corner with the next one.
A key man, the left wing-back is going from strength to strength.
Officials
VAR hasn’t been kind to Dundee this season, just ask the Independent Review Panel. And Tony Docherty made clear his feelings about it, going for sarcasm in his post-match comments.
But the Dark Blues can consider themselves fortunate not to fall foul of referee Don Robertson and/or VAR.
Bakayoko upended Miller in the area at 0-0 but appeals were waved away. At the time it looked a risky challenge and the video backed up that the striker got away with one.
Miller, too, was unfortunate to earn a first-half yellow for a late bump into Beck but can have no complaints about his second one, fouling Beck once more as the Dundee man burst into the area.
Rocky Bushiri wiped out Beck as well with the defender on a storming run but a yellow card was the right call with defenders covering.
A mixed bag for the officials as well on the big calls but nothing to add to Dundee’s two big reasons to feel hard done by this season.
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