Dundee lost 2-1 to Aberdeen at the ScotFoam Stadium this afternoon. A frantic match, which could have seen many more goals, was settled by Kevin Nisbet’s first half goal and a spectacular long range effort by Topi Keskinen early in the second half. Seb Palmer-Houlden pulled a goal back for the Dee but Aberdeen held on to win after surviving some hair-raising moments around their own goal. The Dark Blues will be kicking themselves for letting the points slip away through some poor finishing and sloppy defending.
The only change to the Dee’s starting eleven was Mo Sylla returning in central midfield. Lyall Cameron moved forward into a more attacking role and Seun Adewumi dropped to the bench.
The game started untidily with both teams guilty of carelessness in possession. Dundee settled first and launched a few promising attacks. Ziyad Larkeche and Simon Murray combined with some clever footwork which gave the Dee striker a chance to shoot but Ross Doohan saved.
Doohan saved again after Josh Mulligan burst through the Dons midfield to shoot from the edge of the penalty area. Larkeche smashed a shot narrowly wide into the side netting.
Aberdeen offered little in an opening quarter of an hour in which they gave the ball away repeatedly. Gradually they cut out the basic mistakes and showed more composure and threat in attack.
Topi Keskinen worked himself into a good position only to shoot straight at Jon McCracken. The Dee keeper had to save again when Ante Paleversa’s shot from 22 yards took a big deflection that almost took the ball over the Dee keeper.
The Dons took the lead from the resulting corner after 29 minutes. The second ball was a deep cross beyond the far post. Krister Tobers had been left free and although McCracken saved well from his volley, Kevin NISBET was on hand to smash the loose ball into the roof of the net.
The setback shook the Dark Blues for a few minutes. Jeppe Okkels could have made it 2-0 when he cut in from the right, but was denied by another good save by McCracken.
The Dark Blues found their rhythm again towards the end of the half and put the Aberdeen defence under serious pressure. There were two frantic goalmouth scrambles. Simon Murray, Scott Tiffoney and Lyall Cameron had close range shots blocked and eventually the ball flew out for a corner which produced yet more chaos in the Dons’ goalmouth. Somehow the ball stayed out and Jordan McGhee shot past the post.
Seb Palmer-Houlden replaced Scott Tiffoney at half time, and the Dark Blues started with some promising attacks.
Any Dark Blue optimism was crushed by a goal of the highest quality after 52 minutes. Dee carelessness in midfield allowed the ball to break to Topi KESKINEN. He ran on into space and sent a superb curling rocket from 25 yards into McCracken’s top left hand corner. The Finnish wide player might be erratic, and often ineffective, but when he gets it right he can call on genuine talent.
Both sets of supporters clearly felt the game was as good as over, but Dundee responded immediately with a neatly worked goal. Mulligan jinked into space on the right and dinked a lovely cross into the goalmouth for Seb PALMER-HOULDEN to stab home the goal that gave the Dark Blues hope.
That was after 54 minutes, and the remaining 42 minutes of play were a frenetic end to end affair. It is astonishing that there were no more goals, especially for the Dark Blues, who repeatedly opened up Aberdeen but couldn’t convert their chances.
Jon McCracken had to pull off a top class save to keep out Tobers’ header from a free kick. Apart from that the closest calls were around the Aberdeen goal.
Fin Robertson came on for Mo Sylla and then Seun Adewumi replaced Lyall Cameron. Dundee were particularly dangerous on the break and they should really have scored from one of their fast breaks out of defence. Aberdeen kept playing an open game in the hope of clinching the win, but their attacks looked as likely to result in a Dundee equaliser as a third goal.
The Dark Blues pace and control coming out of defence was impressive, but the same couldn’t be said for their decision making in the final third and their finishing.
There was a further session of chaotic pinball in the Aberdeen goalmouth as Fin Robertson, Murray and Palmer-Houlden all had shots blocked.
Dundee looked like creating a chance every time they came forward. There were moments when a Dee goal seemed inevitable, but sadly it never transpired.
This game could, and should, have returned at least one point for the Dee. They were hardly at their best, but they created enough throughout the match to have scored the goals that would have brought a welcome win. Dundee’s finishing was below the usual standard today, but the familiar defensive frailties were still apparent.
Against opponents who were short of form and confidence the Dark Blues needed the first goal. If they’d scored first they could have gone on to win comfortably without playing much better. But they conceded two goals because they weren’t tight enough at the back or in midfield and they missed far too many chances. In the Premiership that invariably means defeat.
Dundee FC 3-4-1-2
McCracken
Portales, Clark Robertson, Donnelly
Mulligan, Sylla (Fin Robertson 57), McGhee, Larkeche (Garza 81)
Cameron (Adewumi 67)
Murray (c), Tiffoney (Palmer-Houlden at half time)
Unused subs: Carson (gk), Ingram, Astley, Shaughnessy, Samuels.
Goal: Palmer-Houlden (54).
Booked: Adewumi, Donnelly.
Aberdeen 4-2-3-1
Doohan
Jensen, Tobers, Knoester, MacKenzie (Devlin 55)
Nilsen, Palaversa (Shinne 88)
Keskinen, Guรจye (Clarkson 88), Okkels (Morris 55)
Nisbet
Unused subs: Mitov (gk), Dabbagh, Dorrington, Boyd, Ambrose.
Goals: Nisbet (29), Keskinen (52).
Booked: Doohan.
Referee: Grant Irvine. Assistants: David Roome, Gordon Crawford. VAR: Don Robertson. Assistant VAR: Andrew McWilliam.
Attendance: 7,632.
Report: James Christie.
