Official Site: Hibs 2 Dundee 1
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A moment of individual brilliance from Myziane Maolida earned Hibs all three points over a stubborn Dundee side in the cinch Premiership.
It was a game that the Hibees dominated for long spells and - had it not been for some terrific goalkeeping by Trevor Carson - the margin of victory would have been more reflective of the play.
As it was, the Dundee 'keeper’s heroics kept his side in a match that threatened to run away from them and allowed the visitors to mount a late fightback.
That said, his decision making in the lead up to our first half penalty - converted by Dylan Vente – will no doubt give him a sleepless night.
Thirteen minutes from time, Luke McCowan appeared to have snatched an unlikely share of the spoils with a fantastic finish - only for Myziane to pop up with the winning goal three minutes later.
Nick Montgomery made three changes to the side that drew with Aberdeen last weekend. Rocky Bushiri, Emiliano Marcondes and Vente were the trio brought in with Nectar Triantis, Elie Youan and Dylan Levitt all dropping out.
Visitors Dundee, backed by over 1,200 supporters in Leith, went with the same XI that defeated Ross County the weekend prior.
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Tony Docherty’s side started on the front foot with the impressive Owen Beck peeling off the left flank to come inside and try an early shot that was blocked by Rocky.
Myziane was clearly in the mood to impress and he was giving Jordan McGhee a torrid time down our left flank as he twice got beyond the Dundee man to send telling deliveries into the box that were cutout by last-gasp defending.
Slowly we began to assert ourselves on the game and Dundee shot stopper Carson was called into the first of his many saves this afternoon as he kept out a Will Fish volley on 13 minutes.
After a lull in play where Hibs enjoyed a lot of possession, without turning it into tangible opportunities in front of goal, the game burst into life again as the home side finished the first half strongly.
First, an Emiliano corner kick was met powerfully by Fish to draw a terrific save from Carson down to his right before the goalkeeper blotted his copybook with some calamitous play from the resulting corner kick.
He twice tried - and failed – to collect the ball before clattering into Emiliano and giving referee John Beaton little option other than to point to the penalty spot. Vente took the spot kick, sending Carson the wrong way and notched his seventh goal of the campaign.
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Getting our noses in front gave us a new-found confidence, whilst sapping Dundee’s at the same time, and we pressed for a quickfire second goal.
We nearly got one too as Lewis Miller’s long throw was flicked on to Vente who sent a looping header back across goal towards the far corner of the net that Carson just managed to keep out with his fingertips.
The Dundee goalkeeper would have a busy end to the first half as he kept out a point-blank volley from Vente before diving full-length to push a Myzaine strike around his post.
In the final action of an entertaining first period, Emiliano’s snap-shot from the edge of the Dundee box was deflected into the side netting with a relieved Carson beaten.
Dundee boss Docherty could not have been happy with his side's first half performance because he made a double change during the interval as Michael Mellon and Ricki Lamie replaced Scott Tiffoney and Dara Costelloe.
The second half was only moments old when Carson was called into action once more as he acrobatically threw himself to his left to push away a rasping volley from Boyle on the edge of the box.
We thought we had doubled our lead in the 57th minute when Boyle’s driven cross was slotted away by Vente, only for a VAR review to highlight the striker was offside and the effort chalked off.
We were threatening to blow Dundee away at times however we needed a second goal and again went close when a reverse pass from Boyle slipped in Emiliano, only for Carson to once again thwart us.
For the second time this afternoon Docherty made a double change hoping to spark life into his side and this time it appeared to work as the visitors enjoyed their best spell of play this afternoon.
They carved out several opportunities in quick succession with Michael Mellon volleying just wide of the far post, Josh Mulligan having an angled shot deflected wide and Curtis Main turning the ball into the net only for the offside flag to deny him.
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With 13 minutes remaining, Dundee did haul themselves level when a stunning low drive from McCowan gave David Marshall no chance.
From looking comfortable, we were now looking a little edgy as momentum shifted towards the visitors. Dundee again went close with Main’s shot on the turn flashing wide of the far post as we desperately sought cool heads.
We got that in abundance as Myziane was coolness personified with ten minutes remaining as he twisted and turned Joe Shaughnessy inside-out to create a shooting opportunity for himself before slotting it past Carson to score.
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The goal calmed a lot of nerves around Easter Road and we again looked relaxed in our play. We could have added to our lead late on when Miller threw himself towards the ball to sending a diving header just over Carson’s crossbar.
In the end, the narrow victory did little to justify an impressive Hibs performance that merited more goals, only for Dundee’s Carson to perform heroics for his side. Nevertheless, it’s a huge three points and a timely boost going into the midweek Edinburgh derby.
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