Dundee suffered their third successive league loss as they were beaten by Betfred Cup finalists Motherwell at Dens.
A Craig Tanner strike gave the Steelmen, who saw off Rangers at Hampden on Sunday to book a final place against Celtic, the lead after only five minutes.
The best the Dark Blues could do was a “goal” from striker Sofien Moussa that was controversially chalked off four minutes before half-time.
The defeat means Neil McCann’s men stay down in 10th spot in the Premiership table, just a point better off than Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock.
The big surprise in the home line-up was the presence of Marcus Haber, with the big Canadian striker not even on the bench as they lost at Firhill at the weekend.
The man to drop out was A-Jay Leitch-Smith, who both scored a goal and missed a penalty against Partick.
Roarie Deacon, who came off the bench against the Jags, was also given a start. Paul McGowan had to make do with a sub’s role.
It was good to see Australian midfielder Jesse Curran keep his place in the side after a fine display on Saturday.
There was also a surprise in the Motherwell team, with cup semi-final hero Louis Moult passed fit after having stitches put in an eye wound but still listed as a sub.
The Well players, called a team of wrestlers by Rangers player Fabio Cardoso in last night’s Ibrox match programme, had the Dens men on the canvas after just five minutes as they took the lead.
A long ball was played to Ryan Bowman, who nodded it on. It fell for Tanner, who leathered it past keeper Scott Bain with the outside of his left foot after shrugging off a challenge from home skipper Darren O’Dea.
With 10 minutes gone, Bain did well to push away Tanner’s strike from the edge of the box before O’Dea did well to tackle a breaking Alex Fisher as the Steelmen went looking for another goal.
A cross from Elliott Frear clipped the Dundee post and, with 20 minutes played, Bain had to dive to his right to push away a 20-yard strike from Fisher as the claret and amber dominance continued.
There was a break in the Well pressure as O’Dea received treatment for a facial injury but the Irishman was able to resume.
The Dark Blues were just not getting up the park and frustration came out when Roarie Deacon was booked for a high tackle on Tanner, then O’Dea body-checked the same player and was yellow-carded. That was to be O’Dea’s final contribution as he was replaced by Kerr Waddell after 31 minutes.
Well goalie Trevor Carson handed the hosts a chance when he picked up a passback from Carl McHugh and conceded an indirect freekick just 12 yards from his own goal. After much hullabaloo, Kevin Holt played the ball to Deacon and he blasted a low strike wide of the post.
Peter Hartley headed onto the roof of the Dundee net then there was controversy on 41 minutes when the Dark Blues had a goal chalked off.
Moussa was the “scorer” as he headed past Carson but a foul was given by referee Stephen Finnie, presumably for pushing Well’s Charles Dunne as the pair jumped.
The big Tunisian squandered a terrific opportunity just a minute later when he curled the ball into the arms of the goalie after being played in by Curran.
The second half wasn’t very old when both sides made changes, with Dundee’s McGowan coming on for Deacon and Well’s Chris Cadden replacing Bowman.
On 56 minutes, Waddell headed over for the Dark Blues after a Haber knock-on and Carson punched away a Holt freekick as the home men began to look more dangerous.
A cross from Frear flew across the face of the Dundee goal on the hour mark before Moult made his appearance from the bench, taking the place of scorer Tanner.
Lewis Spence fired over for the hosts, who then made their last change as Moussa was replaced by Leitch-Smith, while the visitors brought on Liam Grimshaw for Hartley.
Richard Tait had an appeal for a Motherwell spotkick turned down after claiming he was fouled by Holt.
Bain, who had been handed the captain’s armband when O’Dea went off, did the role proud when he rescued his side on 80 minutes, producing a brilliant point-blank save to thwart Gael Bigirimana.
With six minutes to go, Moult’s freekick was deflected just wide of the post then, up at the other end, Haber’s header was saved well by keeper Carson.
Dundee huffed and puffed in the closing stages but just couldn’t score.
Attendance: 5,254.
Dundee: Bain, Holt, O’Dea (Waddell 31), Kamara, Moussa (Leitch-Smith 66), Deacon (McGowan 54), Hendry, Meekings, Curran, Spence, Haber. Subs not used: Parish, O’Hara, Aurtenetxe, Wolters.
Motherwell: Carson, Tait, Hartley (Grimshaw 66), Bigirimana, McHugh, Frear, Bowman (Cadden 53), Fisher, Dunne, Kipre, Tanner (Moult 60). Subs not used: Griffiths, Hammell, Grimshaw, Rose, Petravicius.
Referee: Stephen Finnie.
