The Dark Blues thrilled the large, noisy and passionate travelling Dees by securing their place in the Premiership top 6 with a 0-0 draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie today. The Dons edged the first half but Dundee took charge after half time and put Aberdeen under relentless pressure as they hunted for a winner. It didn’t come, but Motherwell’s draw with Hibs meant that a point was enough for the Dee and the supporters celebrated with the players at the final whistle. It’s been a wonderful achievement for a newly promoted club, and how the fans enjoyed it!
Dundee named an unchanged starting eleven. They started with their usual 3-5-2, but quickly changed to 4-5-1. Dara Costelloe switched from left wing back to right midfield. Aaron Donnelly moved to left back and Scott Tiffoney was on the left of midfield.
The change was a swift response to the problems Duk was causing to the right of the Dee defence. Dundee had three men booked for fouls on the winger in the first 25 minutes. Duk regularly beat his first man in the first half but rarely succeeded in following that up, and the Dons struggled to take advantage.
The first 45 minutes gave us a disappointingly scrappy game. Neither side was able to exploit the few promising opportunities that came their way. Aberdeen were particularly wasteful, repeatedly ending good attacks with poor final balls.
Leighton Clarkson wasted the Dons’ best, and only real chance in the first half. Bojan Miovski chased after a long ball, was forced wide by Jon McCracken’s challenge and retrieved the ball to cross for Leighton Clarkson, who shot weakly well wide.
Lyall Cameron had Dundee’s two most dangerous shots in the first half. Luke McCowan robbed Connor Barron and played Cameron in but keeper Roos parried the shot. Late in the half McCowan worked a neat move with Tiffoney which gave Cameron space to shoot from 20 yards and his fierce shot clipped the top of the bar.
After a first half that was little better than mediocre Dundee upped their game and took charge after the restart. Malach Boateng replaced Mo Sylla at the start of the second half. At last the Dark Blues were working their way conistently through the midfield with quick passing and smart movement. It seemed as if a Dee goal was a matter of time, but frustratingly it didn’t arrive.
Aberdeen rarely threatened in a poor second half for the home team. After an hour they had their only dangerous moment of the half when Miovski’s persistence allowed Duk to power an angled drive at goal. It was heading for the side netting, but McCracken took no chances and pushed it wide.
The Dark Blues seemed certain to take a deserved lead at the end of a fast break when Tiffoney raced down the right. With the Dons defence scattered all over the place, he passed across goal for Cameron whose shot beat Roos but was somehow cleared off the line by Angus MacDonald.
Dundee’s next chance came when Tiffoney robbed Devlin to set up Bakayoko only for the striker to prod his shot wide. Curtis Main came on for Dara Costelloe and thought he’d grabbed the winner from close range following a goalmouth scramble. The officials disallowed the goal for offside, a decision that was eventually confirmed after an agonising, interminable VAR review.
By this stage we all knew that Hibs were ahead at Motherwell and the Dee needed to win. The Dark Blues kept throwing men forward, but were doing it confidently and under control rather than recklessly and desperately.
Aaron Donnelly saw a ferocious shot charged down following a long throw. In the resulting stramash Main hooked the ball over his head and Roos touched the ball onto the bar and over.
Eight minutes of added time were announced. As the Dee kept attacking Aberdeen a huge roar came up from the travelling support. That signalled Motherwell’s equaliser against Hibs. The other game finished earlier than ours and everyone knew that a draw would be enough to confirm Dundee’s top 6 place.
Owen Dodgson and Ricki Lamie came on for Aaron Dodgson and Amadou Bakayoko as Dundee played out the remaining few minutes calmly as the fans sang and cheered them over the line. Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie departed a couple of minutes early when he collected a second yellow card for a late challenge on Malachi Boateng.
The final whistle came with Dundee holding the ball deep in Aberdeen’s half in front of the Dee support. The response was delight from supporters who have been thrilled with the way that the Dark Blues have performed in their first season back in the Premiership. All the experts were predicting that Dundee would struggle and probably finish bottom. Nobody was expecting that the Dee would end up in the top 6 and deservedly so.
Over the full match Dundee would have deserved a win, but nobody will have left Aberdeen disappointed with a single point. A goalless draw can seldom have felt so satisfying. After a tricky first half Dundee never looked in any danger of losing today and the team showed great determination, organisation, and some skill to ensure that the Dee took the draw that confirmed the club will finish in the top half of the table. It has been an outstanding achievement for a newly promoted club. Well done guys! You’ve done us proud!
Aberdeen 4-2-3-1
Roos
Devlin, Gartenmann, MacDonald, MacKenzie
Barron (Polvara 73), Shinnie (c)
McGrath, Clarkson (Duncan 73), Duk
Miovski
Unused subs: Doohan (gk), Jensen, McGarry, Phillips, Sokler, Polvara, Duncan, Milne, Hoilett.
Booked: Shinnie twice (fouls on Costelloe and Boateng).
Sent off: Shinnie (two bookings).
Dundee FC 3-5-2 (then 4-5-1)
McCracken
Portales, Shaughnessy (c), Donnelly (90+3)
McGhee, Cameron, Sylla (Boateng at half time), McCowan, Costelloe (Main 74)
Bakayoko (Lamie 90+3), Tiffoney (Mellon 85)
Unused subs: Sharp (gk), Astley, Robinson, Robertson.
Referee: Nick Walsh. Assistants: Craig Ferguson, David Dunne. Fourth Official: Gavin Duncan. VAR: Euan Anderson. Assistant VAR: Alan Mulvanny.
Attendance: 17,176.
Report: James Christie.
