Lee Ashcroft’s header from a corner early in the second half gave the Dark Blues a point from a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie tonight. Bojan Miovski had put the Dons ahead with a first half penalty. Dundee were short of their best in the first half and reorganished at half time and stepped up their game impressively. The Dee might be disappointed that they couldn’t find a winner, but the single point was enough to take them into the top six on goal difference.
There were five changes to the Dee’s team following Saturday’s win at Livingston. Trevor Carson, Lyall Cameron, Malachi Boateng, and Zach Robinson came back into the starting eleven, as did Owen Beck following his return from Liverpool. Harry Sharp, Fin Robertson, Dara Costelloe and Scott Tiffoney moved onto the bench, and Luke McCowan was suspended. Michael Mellon, Saturday’s star substitute, was ruled out by a late injury picked up against Livingston.
The game got off to a sluggish start with neither side threatening an early goal. The first chance fell to the Dark Blues after 12 minutes. The Dons defence failed to deal with a high, long ball. Zach Robinson picked up the ball wide on the right of the penalty area and his low cross flew across the face of goal with the lunging Amadou Bakayou inches away from a tap in at the far post.
Aberdeen’s first chance also came from a poorly defended long ball which dropped over the heads of the Dundee defence. Graeme Shinnie was allowed to run clear, and from an awkward angle, with Trevor Carson almost on top of him, he shot across goal and wide.
After that Dundee were marginally the better, or more composed, side for 15 minutes, but without greatly troubling the Aberdeen defence. The home crowd was starting to get irritable, but frustratingly Dundee gave the struggling Dons an avoidable penalty to open the scoring ater 31 minutes. Owen Beck was caught in possession trying to run out of defence. Ester Sokler tried to turn on the resulting cross, but he was caught by Joe Shaughnessy. Bohan MIOVSKI scored comfortably from the spot.
The rest of the first half was disappointing. Neither side was able to put together fluent moves and there was little in the way of action in the penalty areas. Dundee couldn’t get their passing game going and frequently resorted to long balls through the middle. These gave the Dons defence little trouble.
At half time Josh Mulligan replaced Mo Sylla and immediately brought greater drive to the midfield with a series of sggressive runs through the middle. Owen Beck was playing further forward and moving infield. Dundee were now set up to attack the Aberdeen defence more convincingly.
However, it was the Dons who offered the first goal threat of the second half. Joe Shaughnessy couldn’t clear and Jamie McGrath’s shot was well saved by Carson. Aberdeen did get the ball into net from a neat finish by Ester Sokler, but the assistant ref’s flag shot up and VAR confirmed the offside decision.
The Dark Blues responded well to that scare and showed great determination as they set about chasing an equaliser. Mulligan sent Lyall Cameron to the byline and his low cross flashed in front of goal with Beck and Robinson unable to get the final touch.
Aberdeen were pinned back in their own penalty area defending a series of corners and free kicks. Every time Aberdeen cleared the Dee midfield regained possession and came straight back at the Dons. Kelle Roos pulled off a good save to keep out Lee Ashcroft’s header from a cross by Beck after he worked a short corner with Owen Dodgson. The Dee centre back wasn’t to be denied, however, and after 55 minutes he rose at the far post to head home a corner from Beck, with keeper Roos blocked by a crowd of defenders and attackers.
Dundee were on top now and threatening to score with every attack. At the end of a quick passing move Cameron played Mulligan in, but the shot was blocked and Aberdeen scrambled the ball away.
Midway through the half Scott Tiffoney and Dara Costelloe came on for Zach Robinson and Jordan McGhee. Aberdeen made two changes at the same time and did perk up as a result. However, the Dons were never impressive and Dundee were always able to cope with their attacks.
The Dark Blues were the team who came closest to finding a late winner, deep into added time. Tiffoney won the ball in midfield and sent Beck clear into the penalty area. Beck had time to take aim but smashed his shot across goal and wide.
A draw might have been a fair result over the full course of the game, but the Dark Blues looked far more likely to emerge as winners after moving up through the gears in the second half. The first half was poor from both sides, but Tony Docherty made the changes at half time that transformed the Dark Blues. Dundee were the better team in the second half. The passing, movement and energy were all superior to the Dons’ disjointed and plodding attacks.
It’s a measure of Dundee’s progress this season that many of the Dark Blues’ supporters will have left Pittodrie disappointed with a draw. If the Dark Blues had played throughout as they did in the second half it probably would have been a win, but earning a draw at a difficult away ground after playing below par in the first half and trailing at half time is hardly a bad outcome. It might be just the one point, but this game provided more evidence that the Dee are on the right track.
Aberdeen FC 3-4-1-2
Roos
Devlin, MacDonald, Jensen,
Milne (Phillips 75), Clarkson (Morris 87), Shinnie, MacKenzie (Duncan 67)
McGrath
Miovski, Sokler (Guehe 67)
Unused subs: Doohan (gk), Hayes, Polvara, Barron.
Goal: Miovski (31 pen).
Booked: McGrath (foul on Boateng), Jensen (foul on Tiffoney).
Dundee FC 3-5-2
Carson
Ashcroft, Shaughnessy (c), Dodgson
McGhee (Costelloe 67), Sylla (Mulligan at half time), Cameron, Boateng, Beck
Robinson (Tiffoney 67), Bakayoko (Main 72)
Unused substitutes: Legzdins (gk), Sharp (gk), Astley, Robertson.
Goal: Ashcroft (55).
Booked: Dodgson (foul on Miovski), Boateng (foul on Shinnie), Beck (foul on McGrath).
Referee: Nick Walsh. Assistants: Frank Connor, Ross Nelson. Fourth Official: Iain Snedden. VAR: Chris Graham. Assistant VAR: David McGeachie.
Attendance: 15,512.
Report: James Christie.
