Three things we learned as Max Anderson’s First Premiership Goal Sinks St Mirren

Dundee halt their run of five successive away league games without a win with an impressive 0-1 victory at SMISA Stadium this afternoon, leaving James McPake’s side four points clear of Ross County at the foot of the Premiership table.

Max Anderson would fire the visitors ahead early on with an excellent strike and Dundee stood resolute to record their second league win this season.

With the visitors seeking redemption following their humiliating 0-5 defeat to Ross County earlier in the week, the Dee’ started brightly and came close to the opener early on.

Paul McMullan’s floated delivery was superbly met by Ryan Sweeny at the back post, but the defenders powerful headed effort was comfortably held by Jak Alnwick.

Despite struggling to find a foothold in the game, the hosts would come close the opener minutes later. Scott Tanser’s perfectly weighted free-kick found Connor McCarthy lurking at the back post, but Adam Legzdins reacted quickly to parry away the young defender’s headed effort.

Dundee would then break the deadlock after only 10 minutes. The Saints failed to clear Jordan Marshall’s looping cross, and McMullan’s clever flick-on fell kindly to Anderson at the edge of the box, and the young striker calmly placed his strike past Alnwick into the bottom right corner to give the visitors the early advantage.

Dundee celebrating. Source - SNS Group

Dundee continued to look threatening and were unfortunate not to double their advantage minutes later. Clever link-up play between Cillian Sheridan and Paul McGowan left McGowan through on goal, but Alnwick reacted quickly to block the shot from close range.

Following a very disappointing first half display, the hosts left the field to a chorus of boos from an infuriated home support.

Looking for a response in the second half, Jim Goodwin’s side started brightly and were adamant they should’ve been awarded a penalty in the opening stages of the half. A quick counter attack left Eamonn Brophy in acres of space on the right. The striker skilfully cut inside before being brought down under Sweeny’s challenge. The contact looked minimal and referee John Beaton quickly waved play on, despite the adamant pleas from the St Mirren technical area.

Dundee came close to sealing all three points in the dying stages of the game. Substitute Christie Elliot danced his way past several St Mirren challenges before firing towards goal, but with the goal seemingly at his mercy, the forward lost his footing and sent his effort well wide of the target; much to the frustration of McMullan who was left unmarked in the box and would’ve only required a tap in into the empty net.

Nevertheless, the Dundee defence stood resolute in the final minutes to seal their second league win this season.

Here are the three things we learned as Dundee bounce back from midweeks demolition with an impressive victory over St Mirren.

A disappointing display

Jim Goodwin will be furious with his sides performance this afternoon after impressing consistently in recent weeks. Unlike their previous performances against Rangers and their late fightback against Motherwell, St Mirren failed to create any real chances or pose any threat to Dundee. Despite a recent string of poor results, the visitors were thoroughly deserving of the three points this afternoon.

First Premiership goal

Dundee striker Max Anderson opened his account for the season after netting his first senior goal in the Scottish top-flight. The 20-year-old remained calm and confidently curled his effort low past Alnwick into the bottom right corner to seal all three points for the visitors.

Stopping the rot

James McPake will be leaving Paisley delighted as his side put an end to five successive league games without a win. The Dee’ have netted only twice in their previous five away visits whilst conceding a staggering 12 goals. However, the visitors were more than deserving of the victory after controlling large spells in the game whilst causing the hosts problems throughout.

McPake voiced his delight on his sides performance after full-time:

“It’s one performance and it’s one win, but after the other night, I think it is a massive performance from us and that’s what got us the result. The attitude, the desire to do the hard yards. The players deserve all the credit today, they were magnificent.

“We all hurt as coaches, as fans and you can say the old cliché that this ones for the fans, but this one for me is certainly for the players because they’ve been hurting as much as anyone. They deserve all the credit today.”

Dundee manager James McPake. Source - SNS Group

Alternatively, St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin was left frustrated by the result:

“Really frustrating afternoon for us. I think we’ve had more possession on the ball, more attempts, more shots on target, all the stats will probably line up in our favour, but the one that matters is the score line.

“Once Dundee got their noses in front, they made it very difficult for us, we couldn’t break them down and we just didn’t create enough clear-cut opportunities. I think we could still be playing now and still find it hard to put the ball in the back of the net.

“It one of those ones where we need to dust ourselves down and go again, its as simple as that.”