Tony Docherty hailed an “all-round top performance” as Dundee’s third home win on the spin saw the Dee roar into fifth place.
The Dark Blues saw off Motherwell 4-1 on a sodden Dens Park pitch thanks to three second-half goals in seven minutes.
Lyall Cameron and Seun Adewumi proved too much for the Steelmen.
Adewumi opened the scoring with a superb individual effort while Cameron finished it with a quickfire double as the Dark Blues struck three times in seven second-half minutes.
Scott Tiffoney grabbed the first of those with a swift breakaway that drew plenty of complaints from the away dugout.
That was after Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had levelled matters in the first half, beating Jon McCracken at the second attempt.
Cameron ‘stepping up’
Docherty was delighted with the performance of Cameron in particular.
“We’ve lost experienced players, including Luke McCowan, and we’ve needed players to step up to the plate,” the Dundee boss said.
“Lyall is certainly doing that, he’s taken real responsibility and he’s proving his worth.
“He’s got ability to take a breath and make the right decision.
“He’s done it again.
“I’m delighted to be working with someone that is improving and developing, who works really hard at his game.
“That’s my message to the players, as good as it was tonight, there are still areas for improvement.
“I was really pleased with the performance.
“We had a fantastic opening goal from Seun Adewumi, who is really getting up to speed now.
“We gave away a cheap goal to let them back in.
“At half-time we settled them down and asked them to be really brave in possession.
“I think we came out worthy winners. Another 4-1 victory at home and I’m delighted for the fans, it was a good night for Dundee tonight.”
Adewumi arrow
All eyes were on the choice in goal after Jon McCracken’s impressive show at Kilmarnock and the return of Trevor Carson.
McCracken’s weekend performance earned him the nod as Carson took a place on the bench.
Also on the bench were Fin Robertson and Seb Palmer-Houlden with Scott Tiffoney and Seun Adewumi coming in, the latter after his own impactful display at Rugby Park.
A tweak of formation saw a disjointed start from the hosts with Motherwell enjoying the better of the opening salvos.
That was until the clock ticked onto 14 minutes and Tiffoney fed the fleet-footed Adewumi on the left wing.
The Austrian cut inside his man and curled a fine finish into the far top corner for his second goal of the season.
The lead only lasted five minutes, however, as Stamatelopoulos made it 1-1.
McCracken did his best with a brilliant save, only for the rebound to land at the feet of the Australian for an easy equaliser.
The Dee keeper was continued his fine form from the weekend, pulling off a string of impressive saves.
Quickfire Cameron
The second half started as sluggishly as the first for the home side with Harry Paton sending a good chance wide from close range.
Docherty was planning changes only for his side to break away and re-take the lead.
A clearance from a Motherwell corner set their speedsters away with Tiffoney keeping his cool to slot the ball into the far corner.
The Steelmen were not happy with it, though. Kofi Balmer was down in the Dundee box when the ball hit the net and they felt the game should have been stopped.
Stuart Kettlewell would earn a caution for protesting. Post-match he argued the Steelmen should have had a penalty for the challenge on Balmer.
The Dundee subs sat down again and the boys on the pitch made hay with Lyall Cameron notching a quickfire double on 63 and 67 minutes.
The first came courtesy of a deflection deceiving Oxborough as he found the net from 20 yards.
Cameron’s second came thanks to the endeavour of his captain. Simon Murray besting Balmer before laying the ball back to his team-mate.
That would be Murray’s last act before heading off, finishing the match with two assists.
Dundee saw out the comfortable scoreline pretty comfortably with the three points moving them up to fifth in the Premiership, leapfrogging Motherwell.
While it was the first time since 2002 under Ivano Bonetti that a Dundee side had won three home top-flight matches on the spin.
‘Bring it on’
Docherty added: “Someone told me it’s a record tonight, the first time Dundee have won three home games in a row since 2002.
“Hopefully that’s what this team will keep doing because I can see them improving and developing every day.
“If they continue to do that, bring it on, they’ll continue to break more records.
“We’re now in the top six – the challenge is stay there.”
Koumetio
Dundee lost central defender Koumetio to a head knock after a nasty clash with Motherwell attacker Moses Ebiye
Sean Kelly came on in his place, making his Dundee debut.
“He’s OK. He wasn’t knocked out or concussed or anything,” Docherty said of Koumetio.
“He’s fine.
“It was a good performance again from him tonight. He’s just turned 22 and he’s a young player learning his way, he’s improving.”
Teams
Dundee (3-4-3): McCracken, Astley, Koumetio (Kelly 85), Portales, Mulligan, Tiffoney (F Robertson 69), Sylla, McGhee, Cameron, Adewumi (Vetro 90), Murray (Palmer-Houlden 69).
Subs not used: Sharp, Carson, Ingram, Main, Braybrooke.
Motherwell (3-5-2): Oxborough, Seddon, Gordon, Balmer, Paton (Halliday 69), Stamatelopoulos (Ebiye 69), Casey, Wilson, Miller, Watt (Maswanhise 75), Tavares (Kaleta 69).
Subs not used: Hegyi, Zdravkovski, Nicholson, Blaney, Koutroumbis.
Referee: John Beaton
Attendance: 5,381
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