Dundee went down to a 2-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon. Lawrence Shankland scored twice in a first half dominated by the Jam Tarts. The Dark Blues improved after half time, but Hearts never looked like being pulled back and ended up worthy winners.
There were two changes to the Dark Blues’ line-up following Wednesday’s win over Motherwell. Fin Robertson and Seb Palmer-Houlden came in for Scott Tiffoney and Simon Murray, who were both on the bench.
The Dark Blues started slowly and never really got into the game in a disappointing first half. Twice in the opening 15 minutes Hearts worked James Penrice into a position to cross. Each time his pacy delivery was met with a mishit shot by Musa Dremmeh.
Lawrence Shankland had a go from 45 yards with Jon McCracken out of position but the Dee keeper got back in time to usher the shot wide.
Hearts were constantly threatening to take the lead and a home goal duly arrived in the 21st minute. Cammy Devlin was allowed too much space to take a shot from 22 yards. McCracken pushed the shot wide and James Wilson played Penrice into space to cross. This time the cross found SHANKLAND at the far post and he sent a header looping across goal and into the top corner.
McCracken saved an angled Shankland shot with his feet after Hearts broke away from their drop ball on the half way line. That might have been a controversial goal because Dundee had been in possession when the referee stopped play to let Blair Spittal get treatment.
Hearts went 2-0 up just after the half hour. Penrice sent in another fiercely struck low cross. McCracken only pushed it out as far as SHANKLAND who tucked it straight back into the net.
The Dark Blues perked up slightly after that, putting together a few half promising attacks, but without creating any chances or even managing any shots worth reporting.
Hearts were much sharper, both in possession and off the ball. The breakdowns in play invariably ended up with Hearts winning the ball. Frustratingly the Dark Blues were passive, ineffective and second best.
It was no surprise that Tony Docherty made changes at half time. Simon Murray and Ethan Ingram came on for Seun Adewumi and Fin Robertson. Jordan McGhee moved to left wing back and Josh Mulligan switched to central midfield.
The Dark Blues were livelier and more competitive in the second half but they could never control the game in a way that suggested a comeback was possible. Dundee couldn’t keep possession and build the moves that might have opened up Hearts.
With a two goal lead Hearts were able to manage the game and pick their moments to attack. Dundee defended better in the second half. That improvement was essential because all the more dangerous moments were at the Dundee end. Hearts repeatedly got worrying balls into the Dundee penalty area. The Dark Blues, however, couldn’t force Craig Gordon into making a single save throughout the match.
Dundee came close to conceding an embarrassing third goal when McCracken battered a clearance against Billy Koumetio and set up Dremmeh to run the ball into the empty goal from 35 yards. Fortunately the offside flag spared the Dark Blue blushes.
Late in the game Lyall Cameron tried to slip a pass through the defence for Simon Murray but Gordon won the race for the ball. That summed up the Dark Blues’ afternoon. They never managed to play the right pass when it mattered and Hearts were always able to clear up when Dundee attacks broke down.
Deep into injury time came the closest thing to a legitimate second half goal. McCracken made two fine saves in quick succession from Devlin and Alan Forrest.
Dundee never got their game going today. They were always well off the pace in a first half that was highly forgettable. After half time Hearts’ two goal lead allowed them to play the game the way they wanted and Dundee couldn’t do enough to unsettle them.
Hearts looked nothing like a team at the bottom of the table today and Dundee lacked the cutting edge and the creativity that have brought them so many goals this season. Whether an energy sapping win on Wednesday night was a factor in Dundee’s sub-standard performance is debatable, but nobody could seriously argue that Dundee deserved to take anything from today’s game.
Hearts 4-2-3-1
Gordon
Oyegoke, Halkett, Rowles, Penrice
Devlin, Boateng
Drammeh (Grant 75), Spittal (Vargas 75), Wilson (Forrest 67)
Shankland (c)
Unused subs: Clark (gk), Salazar, Oda, Dhanda, Tait, Forrester.
Goals: Shankland (21, 31).
Booked: Shankland (high boot), Penrice (foul on Ingram).
Dundee FC 3-4-2-1
McCracken
Astley, Portales, Koumetio
Mulligan (Vetro 83), McGhee (c), Sylla, Fin Robertson (Ingram at half time)
Cameron, Adewumi (Murray at half time)
Palmer-Houlden (Tiffoney 61)
Unused substitutes: Sharp (gk), Carson (gk), Main, Kelly, Braybrooke.
Booked: Mulligan (foul on Devlin), Murray (dissent), Ingram (stopping free kick).
Referee: Colin Steven. Assistants: Chris Rae, Gordon Crawford. Fourth official: Matthew MacDermid. VAR: Andrew Dallas. Assistant VAR: David Dunne.
Attendance: 18,787.
Report: James Christie.
