Dundee delighted the fans with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Hibs at the Scot Foam Stadium this evening. After falling behind to an early goal by Nicky Cadden the Dee took charge when Jordan Obita was red carded after 11 minutes. The rampant Dark Blues ran in three first half goals from Jordan McGhee, an own goal by Nectarios Triantis, and Seb Palmer-Houlden. That settled the outcome and Dundee managed the game comfortably in the second half. Late in the match Curtis Main came off the bench to complete the scoring and ensure the scoreline reflected Dundee’s dominance.
There were four changes to the Dee’s starting eleven. Trevor Carson, Antonio Portales, Billy Koumetio, and Fin Robertson came in for Jon McCracken, Ryan Astley, Ziyad Larkeche, and Seun Adewumi.
Dundee got off to a dreadful start, falling behind before a Dark Blue had even touched the ball. Hibs kicked off and played the ball around in the Dee half before Jordan Obita sent over a low crass from the left. The Dundee defence didn’t react and Nicky CADDEN steered a shot inside the far post from 12 yards.
Mykola Kuharevich shot wide after turning Billy Koumetio from a throw in. As Hibs continued to threaten Kuharevich sent a volley into the side netting.
An unhappy opening 10 minutes for Dundee was capped when Clark Robertson was forced off injured and Ryan Astley came on.
After that worrying start the game turned on its head after 11 minutes. Obita took a heavy touch and in trying to recover he lunged over the top of the ball, planting his studs in the ankle of Mo Sylla. A VAR review was never going to save the Hibs defender and the 10 men dropped completely out of the game.
Dundee immediately settled and started to keep possession and pose problems for Hibs’ defence. A cross by Astley struck the post as Hibs looked increasingly vulnerable.
The Dark Blues wound up the pressure and it was no surprise when they equalised in the 26th minute. Fin Robertson burst past Chris Cadden to the byline and cut the ball back for Jordan McGHEE to score with a composed finish from 10 yards across keeper Josef Bursik.
It was now all Dundee as they threatened with every attack. Josh Mulligan was terrorising the left of Hibs defence, which lacked any reliable replacement for the dismissed Obita. Mulligan sent over a beautiful cross and Seb Palmer-Houlden thumped a header against the crossbar.
Two minutes later another great run by Mulligan created space for Lyall Cameron to shoot from 16 yards, but Bursik made a terrific save to stop the ball finding the far corner. The second goal was delayed only by a few seconds, however. Fin Robertson’s corner to the near post was met by Portales’s glancing header and the ball struck the back of Nectarios TRIANTIS’s head and flew into the top corner.
Hibs were in danger of falling apart as the dominant Dark Blues hunted for more goals. The visitors hung on until first half injury time when they conceded a goal that summed up their awful performance. Busik was given a pass back with both Simon Murray and Palmer-Houlden bearing down on him. He failed to control the ball and lost out in a tackle with PALMER-HOULDEN who was left with an open goal at three yards range. 3-1 to the Dee.
The game was pretty much over before the second half kicked off. Hibs never looked capable of launching a fight back. Joe Newall had a fleeting chance early in the half, but shot well wide.
From then on Dundee were in charge, winding the pace down, keeping possession for long spells and forcing Hibs to chase the ball in vain.
Dundee pinged the ball confidently around in the Hibs half looking for openings, but taking no chances. The Dee academy trio, Fin Robertson, Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan were all outstanding. With the Dark Blues firmly in control a succession of pleasing attacks never quite paid off.
Sammy Braybrooke and Ethan Ingram replaced Mo Sylla and Josh Mulligan for the last 20 minutes of play.
Cameron almost scored number four at the end of a great run through the middle. His shot struck a defender and looped over the keeper but dropped the wrong side of the crossbar.
Curtis Main came on as a late substitute for Fin Robertson and applied the coup de grace in injury time. Bushiri was far too casual and lost the ball to Braybooke. Cameron pounced and played MAIN in to send a low shot past Bursik. The game was already dead, but conceding a goal like was simply negligent.
The Hibs supporters were dismayed by this performance but the Dark Blue support was delighted for the second home game in succession.
The uncontroversial red card did change the game, but Hibs can’t claim that it was the only reason for this heavy defeat. They were ahead when they lost Bushiri but they reacted as if the game was already lost. They could do nothing as Dundee took charge and went on to take the Hibees apart.
Dundee were outstanding in midfield and attack from 11 minutes onward. As for the defence, it coped comfortably with whatever Hibs had to offer, but that was very little. The Dark Blues scored four, and it could have been more.
Dundee were particularly dangerous down the wings, with Josh Mulligan and Fin Robertson impressing with their attacking and combination with teammates. Lyall Cameron was constantly involved and creative as he hovered behind the strikers with Mo Sylla and Jordan McGhee doing the vital unglamour admin work deeper in the midfield. Seb Palmer-Houlden and Simon Murray kept working the Hibs defence, which never looked comfortable dealing with Dundee’s attacking.
Hibs were certainly poor tonight, but the Dark Blues deserve great credit for making them look so bad.
Dundee FC 3-5-2
Carson (c)
Portales, Koumetio, Clark Robertson (Astley 9)
Mulligan (Ingram 73), Cameron, McGhee, Sylla (Braybrooke 73), Fin Robertson (Main 87)
Palmer-Houlden, Murray
Unused substitutes: McCracken (gk), Sharp (gk), Tiffoney, Adewumi.
Goals: McGhee (26), Triantis og (31), Palmer-Houlden (45+2), Main (90+2).
Booked: Sylla (foul on Campbell), Murray (blocking a free kick), Carson (time-wasting).
Hibs 4-2-3-1
Bursik
Chris Cadden (Miller 34), Bushiri, O’Hora, Obita
Newell (c) (Molotnikov 79), Triantis (Levitt 79)
Nicky Cadden (Iredale 34), Campbell, Youan
Kuharevich (Boyle 67)
Unused substitutes: Smith (gk), Kwon, Hoilett, Gayle.
Referee: Nick Walsh. Assistants: Frank Connor, Chris Rae. VAR: Andrew Dallas. VAR Assistant: Andrew McWilliam.
Attendance: 5,310.
Report: James Christie.
