Dundee succumbed to defeat at Tannadice for the first time since 2021 after the Dee were beaten 3-0 by their city rivals.
United grabbed an early lead through Will Ferry, but Dundee had the ball cleared off the line from a Luke Graham effort, and despite thinking that the Dee had drawn level late into the first half, Westley’s header was chopped off after VAR intervened. Two more goals in the second half sealed the victory for our neighbours as the Dark Blues counted the cost for poor defending and a lacklustre display.
Dundee made five changes for the last Derby of the season, with Brad Halliday, Drew Wright, Joel Cotteril, Tony Yogane and Simon Murray all dropping to the bench to make way for Ryan Astley, Imari Samuels, Joe Westley, Scott Wight and Ashley Hay.
Dundee United made just the two changes with Neil Farrugia and Krisztian Keresztes in the starting line-up for Amar Fatah and Sam Cleall-Harding.
Dundee were given their first fright of the day, even though it would be flagged for offside at the end of the passage of play. Yan Dhanda attempted to head the ball away, but he headed it backwards into the path of Zac Sapsford, who was through on goal. However, the combination of Luke Graham rushing back to put him under pressure and the striker’s indecisiveness had the Australian shooting right into the arms of Jon McCracken. The linesman’s flag would then be raised for offside as Sapsford was coming back from an offside position.
Dundee then had their first attack of the game, but after gathering a loose ball in the box, Westley curled his effort well wide.
United then took the lead in the 14th minute. The home side pushed forward down Dundee’s left-hand side, and after picking up the ball, Sapsford’s weak shot hit off of Luke Graham, then teammate Will Ferry, who was on the ground, and it snuck in past McCracken, coming off the post and into the back of the net.
Dundee then came agonisingly close to equalising in the 21st minute. Dhanda floated the ball into the United box, where it was headed backwards by Agyei. Luke Graham got on the end of it, and his effort looked like it was hitting the back of the net, but Iurie Iovu was on hand to thwart what looked like a stonewall Dundee goal.
Straight away, Dundee gave the ball away in the middle of the park, and the home side came close to adding a second, but Samuels managed to get back to make amends, stopping Watters from slotting the ball into the back of the net from a low, driven cross into the box.
Yet another chance for United came, with a shot from Farrugia being on target, and McCracken fumbling the ball. Dundee were lucky that when they eventually cleared their lines, it came off a United player for a goal kick.
There was a period of end-to-end stuff, with Dundee taking their turn. Dhanda made a fine pass to Cameron Congreve, who managed to shrug off a few defenders to make a run into the box. When he went to pull the trigger, the home defence blocked his shot for a corner that came to nothing.
The first booking of the game came for Ryan Strain for taking out Scott Wright, who had beaten him to the ball in the 34th minute.
The resulting free-kick was swung deep in the box, and Graham got his head onto it, but his shot came off the back of an orange shirt and out for a corner. From the corner, Dundee thought they had levelled the scoring through Westley putting his body on the line to nod the ball into the net, but after a VAR check, the referee decided that the goal shouldn’t stand after a shirt pull from Ryan Astley in the build-up.
Ethan Hamilton then had a chance right on the cusp of half-time when he picked up the ball before taking a shot from distance, but it was well saved by the opposition goalkeeper.
The half-time whistle sounded with the home side in the lead. Dundee had looked nervy at the back and struggled to win the ball on occasions in the middle of the park, and this gave United a lift. The Dark Blues had posed a threat themselves and had won numerous headers in the home box, but had been unlucky with Graham’s chance and Westley’s disallowed goal.
The first 15 minutes of the second half had both teams battling it out, with United having more of the attacking play, but neither were able to create any clear-cut chances.
Dundee then caused themselves problems at the back when United nicked the ball off Astley, after the defender got caught in possession. As they push forward, a foul is committed on a Dundee player on the ‘D’ of the box, and that relieved the pressure.
United went forward again and won a corner. From the set-piece, Sevelj heads over from yards out when he should have found the back of the net.
Both clubs made changes in the 68th minute. Simon Murray and Charlie Reilly took the field for Scott Wright and Cameron Congreve, while United put on Ivan Dolcek for Max Watters
United then doubled their lead in the 70th minute. The ball was played over to Ferry, who finds himself in acres of space. He was able to take a touch and slam the ball into McCracken’s back post, with the ball coming off of Westley on the way in.
It was another for United mere minutes later. Ferry this time turned into the provider, as he was able to cross the ball into the Dundee back post, where it was met by Ryan Strain, who shrugged off Samuels to nod home easily and put this game to bed.
With 12 minutes left, Dundee put on Tony Yogane for Ashley Hay in the hope of adding more attack from the wings.
Dundee then got a free-kick in a dangerous position after Samuels was wiped out near the edge of the box. Dhanda’s delivery failed to make it near a Dundee jersey and ended up in the clutches of the United goalkeeper.
With a 3-0 lead, the home side freshened up their team with three substitutions with seven minutes to play. Panutche Camara, Johnny Russell and Dario Naamo replacing Will Ferry, Ryan Strain and Emmanuel Agyei.
Dundee nearly grabbed a consolation when Richards spilt Dhanda’s free-kick attempt, but Koumetio couldn’t get a clean touch on it as he rushed in, and the United defender did enough to nullify the chance for the Dark Blues.
The remaining minutes didn’t see much in a Dundee attack, and when the whistle was blown, I doubt many people could argue about the final result.
Dundee were competitive in the first half, but United created more chances. Westley’s goal being chopped off may have changed the game as the Dark Blues were coming right into the match. They had the chance in the second half to try and rectify it, but ultimately, Dundee didn’t.
They failed to really test the home defence at all in the second half, and with no clear-cut chances, the overall performance summed up was simply not good enough.
With four games remaining in the battle to stay out of the Premiership play-off spot, Dundee have to do better.
Dundee United
Richards
Iovu, Graham, Keresztes, Strain (Naamo 84),
Sevelj, Agyei (Camará 83), Ferry (Russell 83), Farrugia,
Sapsford, Watters (Dolcek 69)
Unused Substitutions: Adams, Cleall-Harding, Eskesen, Esselink
Goals: Ferry (14) (70), Strain (72)
Bookings: Strain (34)
Dundee
McCracken
Samuels, Koumetio, Graham, Astley,
Hamilton, S. Wright (Murray 69), Dhanda, Congerve (Reilly 69), Westley
Hay (Yogane 79)
Unused Substitutions: O’Hara, Halliday, Cotterill, Jones, F. Robertson, D. Wright
Referee: Matthew MacDermid Assistant Referees: David McGeachie, Colin Drummond
Fourth Official: Dan McFarlane
Video Assistant Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant VAR Official: Graeme Leslie
Attendance, 13,207
Match Report: Daniel Smith
