Dundee went down to a 2-0 defeat against St Mirren in Paisley tonight. After a scrappy opening hour the Buddies took control and went ahead through Mikael Mandron ater 77 minutes. Saints were reduced to 10 men when James Bolton picked up a late red card, but Olutoysi Olusanya sealed the victory with a goal on the break in injury time as the Dark Blues chased an equaliser.
There was only one change to the Dee team that faced Hearts on Saturday. Curtis Main came in for his first start. He replaced Amadou Bakayoko, who was named as a substitute.
The first half offered little in the way of penalty box excitement. Both sides managed to send the occasional dangerous cross into the goalmouth but the defences always dealt well with them.
Dundee started promisingly in midfield finding space well and moving the ball quickly. The Dark Blues always looked at their best when Luke McCowan and Lyall Cameron got on the ball.
After an opening 15 minutes in which Dundee were marginally the better and more composed team the Buddies went on to edge the remainder of the half without taking control of a game that was often scrappy. St Mirren would regularly move the ball nicely through the midfield without finding any worthwhile final ball.
St Mirren had a good spell for a few minutes in the middle of the first half in which they looked dangerous. Mikael Mandron was played into the penalty area wide of goal and Trevor Carson saved his low shot. A wicked corner from Caolan Boyd-Munce was met with a glancing near post header which flew across goal and wide. James Scott shot wildly over the bar after he turned Owen Dodgson on the edge of the penalty area.
Dundee had the best chance of the half following a fast break from a corner when Luke McCowan sent Owen Beck clear through the middle. The full back checked back onto his left foot and pulled his shot past the post.
The second half brought more scrappiness and few thrills until after the hour mark. St Mirren brought on two substitutes, Keanu Baccus and Lewis Jamieson, and stepped up the pace and looked the more likely winner. Zach Robinson replaced Curtis Main, then Scott Tiffoney replaced Michael Mellon, but Dundee still struggled to create anything in the Buddies’ penalty area. Ryan Astley also came on for his debut, replacing Lee Ashcroft in defence.
Baccus almost scored within a few minutes of arriving on the park. Caolan Boyd-Munce’s cross from the left was pushed away by Carson and Baccus’s shot from the edge of the penalty area clipped the top of the crossbar.
St Mirren got the breakthrough after 73 minutes. A cross was cleared only as far as Mikael MANDRON on the 18 yard line. He chested the ball down and hit a powerful low shot through Carson’s attempted save.
Josh Mulligan and Amadou Bakayoko came on for Malachi Boateng and Lyall Cameron as the Dark Blues set about chasing the game. Dundee piled forward, putting Saints under pressure, but couldn’t create any good chances. Despite being forced to defend in depth St Mirren were more dangerous than the Dark Blues. They should have tied the game up but made a mess of great opportunities on the break. Mandron stood on the ball after the Dee defence got into a mess. A ricochet from a clearance left Jamieson in the clear, but Carson saved well. Greg Kiltie should have scored when Mandron’s pass found him in space in front of goal but he slashed his shot wildly wide.
Ater 86 minutes St Mirren were reduced to 10 men when James Bolton flattened Owen Dodgson. He was given a straight red, which was confirmed following a VAR review. He had already been booked for an earlier foul, so the review was never going to keep him on the park.
Dundee pushed forward desperately and were frustrated when Luke McCowan’s shot on target struck a defender’s arm, from further away than the shot that brought Hearts’ penalty on Saturday. Surprisingly there was no VAR review.
Even with 10 men St Mirren had plenty of space to attack when they got the chance to break. A minute into added time Dundee were finally caught out when substitute Olutoysi OLUSANYA was sent clear and he shot past Carson into the corner. The goal was initially disallowed for offside but it stood following a VAR review. That ended the Dark Blues’ hopes and St Mirren saw out the game comfortably.
The Dark Blues were short of their best tonight and never reached the standard they needed to take anything from a difficult away game. The defence was vulnerable when St Mirren stepped up through the gears in the second half. The midfield didn’t offer enough protection to the defence or create enough, and the strikers had nothing to work with. The Dee were simply not good enough on the night. The Buddies were worthy winners, but they did get a huge break over the penalty claim.
St Mirren 3-4-3
Hemming
Bolton, Gogic, Fraser (c)
Bwomono, Hyeok-Kyu (Baccus 57), Boyd-Munce, Tanser
Scott (Jamieson 67 (Dunne 86)), Mandron (Olusanya 86), Kiltie
Unused subs: Urminsky (gk), Taylor, Brown, Flynn, Ayunga.
Goals: Mandron (73), Olusanya (90+1).
Booked: Bolton (foul on Beck).
Sent off: Bolton (foul on Dodgson).
Dundee FC 3-5-2
Carson
Ashcroft (Astley 67), Shaughnessy (c), Dodgson
McGhee, Cameron (Mulligan 77), Boateng (Bakayoko 77), McCowan, Beck
Mellon (Tiffoney 67), Main (Robinson 58)
Unused substitutes: Sharp (gk), Robertson, Donnelly, Sylla.
Booked: none.
Referee: Steven McLean. Assistants: Chris Rae, Colin Drummond. Fourth Official: George Calder. VAR: Gavin Duncan. Assistant VAR: Graham McNeillie.
Attendance: 5,737 (449 Dees).
Report: James Christie.
