Jonnyboy
11-10-2022, 10:22 PM
I watched at home, so my thoughts are based on the TV pictures.
Lee Johnson went with the same eleven again and indeed there was no change to those named on the bench either. With four consecutive wins under their belt, Hibs would have gone into this game in confident mood. The hosts too had reason to be confident given their 4-0 demolition of Aberdeen, last time out.
Hibs started the game well and forced an early corner but that came to nothing. Then United began to flex their muscles when Middleton should have done better that hitting the side netting and McGrath had a shot blocked before it reached Marshall. The hosts were swarming all over any Hibs player in possession and it was having a positive effect as McMann and Middleton threatened to break the deadlock. On the ten minute mark, Hanlon rose to meet a corner but could only steer his header wide of the post. Sixty seconds later, Hibs were behind as a result of some pretty sloppy defending by Cadden who allowed Behich to wriggle past him before firing in a shot which Marshall looked to have covered before the ball looked to deflect off Porteous and into the net.
For the next fifteen minutes or so, Hibs just never got going and United had their measure by defending deep and denying space in behind. That tactic basically nullified Boyle and Youan who were peripheral figures. A Kuharevich shot failed to trouble the keeper and Newell was well wide of the target with a long range effort. Soon after, Boyle got the break of the ball on the edge of the box, but his well struck shot hit Eriksson on the legs and was cleared away. At the other end, Middleton smashed a shot over the bar after being challenged by Newell and then Hibs looked to have equalised when Kuharevich looped a shot over the keeper. Astonishingly, the assistant referee flagged for offside when it was evident in real time and even more so in the replay that the big striker was well onside when the ball was played towards him. A truly shocking decision.
United were looking to double their lead by playing on the counter attack and they nearly caught Hibs out as the ball reached Sibbald in the box, but his shot was blocked. As the half drew to a close, Porteous tried an audacious effort from all of thirty yards, but the ball was wide of the target and then Cabraja and Freeman indulged in a bit of handbags with their names joining that of Ryan Edwards in the book.
At half time I would imaging Lee Johnson made it clear that he wanted us playing on the front foot and moving the ball more quickly. To assist in that, he replaced Kenneh with Henderson and the anonymous Youan with McKirdy. Certainly, Hibs were more purposeful in their approach but too often the final pass was poor and United were happy to just bide their time and look to hit on the break. A McKirdy shot, from a tight angle, forced the keeper to push the ball behind his left hand post before Middleton broke free but his shot was blocked.
Ewan Henderson hesitated just a fraction too long when deep inside the United box and his shot went wide as he was bumped into by Ryan Edwards. Next to try his luck was Kuharevich but the strike was straight at the keeper and easily saved. United were defending well and conceded a corner which was delivered by Newell onto the head of Porteous, but Ryan couldn’t get enough power on it to trouble the keeper. It was Porteous again as Hibs strived to equalise but again the effort was weak before Boyle should have burst the net as he ran on to a loose ball, but he blasted it over the bar. A long ball released Kuharevich but as he broke clear and faced the keeper his dinked shot rolled agonisingly wide.
A high ball into the Hibs box was competed for by Porteous and Edwards and the United man clearly caught Porteous with an elbow. Quite how the referee missed that is a mystery as Porteous needed quite lengthy treatment. It is a clear cut case for the Compliance Officer though I won’t hold my breath on that one.
With twenty minutes left, Sibbald was booked for scything down McKirdy and was immediately replaced by Ian Harkes. Hibs were pushing higher and higher and United looked to release Tony Watt who was loitering just inside his own half, but the United man failed to get the better of Porteous and was booked for fouling the Hibs defender. Soon after Boyle skied another effort, Hibs replaced Cabraja, and Cadden with Tavares and Fish as Johnson tried to put even more pressure on the United massed defence. Hibs were getting plenty of the ball but were rushing things too much and chances eluded them because of that. Kuharevich then forced the keeper into a decent save with the ball being tipped over the bar for a corner.
With time running out there was another bizarre incident involving the referee and the far side assistant. Freeman clearly allowed the ball to cross the line for what should have been a Hibs throw but the assistant missed it when he was only a yard away. Freeman continued towards the Hibs box and was upended by Hanlon who was booked. The ref gave United a free kick outside the Hibs box when Hanlon’s challenge was clearly inside the area. No wonder Scottish football fans complain about match officials.
Referee Anderson was at it again as the game moved into time added when he called a free kick for a challenge on Porteous who had shrugged off the challenge and continued towards the United goal. A clear case of needing to play the advantage rule but instead he booked the United player and that allowed them to get everyone back to defend the resultant free kick.
United then kept the ball in the corner to run down the clock which is frustrating but the sort of thing a team winning 1-0 will do. When Hibs finally gained possession there was one last chance to salvage a point but the header from Kuharevich was well held by the keeper.
This was a very frustrating night and I find it really hard to understand how we left Tannadice without at least a share of the spoils. For me our placid approach in the first half was unacceptable and laid the foundation for United to frustrate us to the final whistle because all of our second half play was too rushed and unstructured.
The players
Marshall – Horribly exposed for the goal it was his numerous sweeper/keeper events that kept him busy.
Cadden – I felt he was very poor at the goal and that he struggled for the rest of the time he was on the pitch.
Porteous – Tried so hard to push us on and took a few heavy knocks, including that assault by Ryan Edwards.
Hanlon – Like Ryan, he tried his best to get us up the park but there was a disappointing lack of movement ahead of him.
Cabraja – Defended well enough but let his personal feud with Freeman distract him from the job at hand.
Kenneh – Poor from him. Caught in possession a few times and rightly replaced at half time.
Boyle – With no space to run into Boyler was missing in action for large parts of the game.
Newell – Very poor first half but better in the second without really constructing anything.
Campbell – His usual energy but I felt he was not at it tonight.
Youan – He’s young and he’s learning but I suggest he does that learning with the Development side. Really poor tonight and rightfully hooked at half time. Could and should have been earlier.
Kuharevich – Had a perfectly good goal disallowed.
Henderson – Brought on to create but didn’t do a lot of that.
McKirdy – Ran about a lot and had words with the ref. One good shot at goal.
Tavares – See McKirdy but leave out the bit about the ref and the shot at goal.
Fish – Looked solid enough at the back and that allowed Porteous more freedom to rove.
Magennis – Unsure why it was left so late to bring him on.
Lee Johnson – I’ve just read his remarks and I guess he’s right to an extent as we did make chances but other than the Kuharevich dink over the keeper the rest were half chances at best. I also read his views on the disallowed goal, and it seems it was for a foul rather than offside. Just how the assistant could make that call is mystifying to say the least. Like Lee, I’m a frustrated person tonight as I’ve come to expect more from these players.
Referee – Euan Anderson got more wrong than right so it’s normal service, I guess.
Lee Johnson went with the same eleven again and indeed there was no change to those named on the bench either. With four consecutive wins under their belt, Hibs would have gone into this game in confident mood. The hosts too had reason to be confident given their 4-0 demolition of Aberdeen, last time out.
Hibs started the game well and forced an early corner but that came to nothing. Then United began to flex their muscles when Middleton should have done better that hitting the side netting and McGrath had a shot blocked before it reached Marshall. The hosts were swarming all over any Hibs player in possession and it was having a positive effect as McMann and Middleton threatened to break the deadlock. On the ten minute mark, Hanlon rose to meet a corner but could only steer his header wide of the post. Sixty seconds later, Hibs were behind as a result of some pretty sloppy defending by Cadden who allowed Behich to wriggle past him before firing in a shot which Marshall looked to have covered before the ball looked to deflect off Porteous and into the net.
For the next fifteen minutes or so, Hibs just never got going and United had their measure by defending deep and denying space in behind. That tactic basically nullified Boyle and Youan who were peripheral figures. A Kuharevich shot failed to trouble the keeper and Newell was well wide of the target with a long range effort. Soon after, Boyle got the break of the ball on the edge of the box, but his well struck shot hit Eriksson on the legs and was cleared away. At the other end, Middleton smashed a shot over the bar after being challenged by Newell and then Hibs looked to have equalised when Kuharevich looped a shot over the keeper. Astonishingly, the assistant referee flagged for offside when it was evident in real time and even more so in the replay that the big striker was well onside when the ball was played towards him. A truly shocking decision.
United were looking to double their lead by playing on the counter attack and they nearly caught Hibs out as the ball reached Sibbald in the box, but his shot was blocked. As the half drew to a close, Porteous tried an audacious effort from all of thirty yards, but the ball was wide of the target and then Cabraja and Freeman indulged in a bit of handbags with their names joining that of Ryan Edwards in the book.
At half time I would imaging Lee Johnson made it clear that he wanted us playing on the front foot and moving the ball more quickly. To assist in that, he replaced Kenneh with Henderson and the anonymous Youan with McKirdy. Certainly, Hibs were more purposeful in their approach but too often the final pass was poor and United were happy to just bide their time and look to hit on the break. A McKirdy shot, from a tight angle, forced the keeper to push the ball behind his left hand post before Middleton broke free but his shot was blocked.
Ewan Henderson hesitated just a fraction too long when deep inside the United box and his shot went wide as he was bumped into by Ryan Edwards. Next to try his luck was Kuharevich but the strike was straight at the keeper and easily saved. United were defending well and conceded a corner which was delivered by Newell onto the head of Porteous, but Ryan couldn’t get enough power on it to trouble the keeper. It was Porteous again as Hibs strived to equalise but again the effort was weak before Boyle should have burst the net as he ran on to a loose ball, but he blasted it over the bar. A long ball released Kuharevich but as he broke clear and faced the keeper his dinked shot rolled agonisingly wide.
A high ball into the Hibs box was competed for by Porteous and Edwards and the United man clearly caught Porteous with an elbow. Quite how the referee missed that is a mystery as Porteous needed quite lengthy treatment. It is a clear cut case for the Compliance Officer though I won’t hold my breath on that one.
With twenty minutes left, Sibbald was booked for scything down McKirdy and was immediately replaced by Ian Harkes. Hibs were pushing higher and higher and United looked to release Tony Watt who was loitering just inside his own half, but the United man failed to get the better of Porteous and was booked for fouling the Hibs defender. Soon after Boyle skied another effort, Hibs replaced Cabraja, and Cadden with Tavares and Fish as Johnson tried to put even more pressure on the United massed defence. Hibs were getting plenty of the ball but were rushing things too much and chances eluded them because of that. Kuharevich then forced the keeper into a decent save with the ball being tipped over the bar for a corner.
With time running out there was another bizarre incident involving the referee and the far side assistant. Freeman clearly allowed the ball to cross the line for what should have been a Hibs throw but the assistant missed it when he was only a yard away. Freeman continued towards the Hibs box and was upended by Hanlon who was booked. The ref gave United a free kick outside the Hibs box when Hanlon’s challenge was clearly inside the area. No wonder Scottish football fans complain about match officials.
Referee Anderson was at it again as the game moved into time added when he called a free kick for a challenge on Porteous who had shrugged off the challenge and continued towards the United goal. A clear case of needing to play the advantage rule but instead he booked the United player and that allowed them to get everyone back to defend the resultant free kick.
United then kept the ball in the corner to run down the clock which is frustrating but the sort of thing a team winning 1-0 will do. When Hibs finally gained possession there was one last chance to salvage a point but the header from Kuharevich was well held by the keeper.
This was a very frustrating night and I find it really hard to understand how we left Tannadice without at least a share of the spoils. For me our placid approach in the first half was unacceptable and laid the foundation for United to frustrate us to the final whistle because all of our second half play was too rushed and unstructured.
The players
Marshall – Horribly exposed for the goal it was his numerous sweeper/keeper events that kept him busy.
Cadden – I felt he was very poor at the goal and that he struggled for the rest of the time he was on the pitch.
Porteous – Tried so hard to push us on and took a few heavy knocks, including that assault by Ryan Edwards.
Hanlon – Like Ryan, he tried his best to get us up the park but there was a disappointing lack of movement ahead of him.
Cabraja – Defended well enough but let his personal feud with Freeman distract him from the job at hand.
Kenneh – Poor from him. Caught in possession a few times and rightly replaced at half time.
Boyle – With no space to run into Boyler was missing in action for large parts of the game.
Newell – Very poor first half but better in the second without really constructing anything.
Campbell – His usual energy but I felt he was not at it tonight.
Youan – He’s young and he’s learning but I suggest he does that learning with the Development side. Really poor tonight and rightfully hooked at half time. Could and should have been earlier.
Kuharevich – Had a perfectly good goal disallowed.
Henderson – Brought on to create but didn’t do a lot of that.
McKirdy – Ran about a lot and had words with the ref. One good shot at goal.
Tavares – See McKirdy but leave out the bit about the ref and the shot at goal.
Fish – Looked solid enough at the back and that allowed Porteous more freedom to rove.
Magennis – Unsure why it was left so late to bring him on.
Lee Johnson – I’ve just read his remarks and I guess he’s right to an extent as we did make chances but other than the Kuharevich dink over the keeper the rest were half chances at best. I also read his views on the disallowed goal, and it seems it was for a foul rather than offside. Just how the assistant could make that call is mystifying to say the least. Like Lee, I’m a frustrated person tonight as I’ve come to expect more from these players.
Referee – Euan Anderson got more wrong than right so it’s normal service, I guess.