Hibernian Secures Convincing Win Against Dundee
Hibernian shook off any hint of a European hangover with a controlled, convincing win that never truly looked in doubt – even if the scoreline tried to pretend otherwise late on.
They started as if midweek had never happened. Sharp, composed, on the front foot. Dundee were pinned back, chasing shadows, while green shirts moved the ball with purpose in the final third.
The only problem? The finish.
Nathan Lowe rose well but couldn’t get enough power on a header. Martin Boyle buzzed around, twice letting fly without reward. The patterns of play were there, the dominance obvious, but the breakthrough refused to come.
Then the timing and the run finally matched the pass.
Grant Hanley slid a ball in behind, Boyle held his line, burst clear and this time made no mistake, tucking away the opener that Hibs had been threatening from the first whistle. It was no more than David Gray’s side deserved.
Boyle should have doubled it before the interval. Clean through again, he went for the delicate chip, watched it float over the keeper – and then watched it bounce wide. A moment of craft that needed a touch more cruelty.
Second Half
The second half brought the goal that better told the story of the afternoon. Hibs tightened their grip, and when the second went in, their control finally appeared on the scoreboard. Jamie McGrath and Felix Passlack drove at Dundee, both looking like they might end the contest themselves as the visitors toyed with taking the game out of sight.
Dundee, to their credit, did eventually stir.
Steven Pressley’s side had endured a miserable first 45 minutes, their only real moment of note a Bradley Fink effort dragged wide. Disjointed, flat, and lacking any real cohesion, they never laid a glove on Raphael Sallinger before the break.
The restart brought more intent. Joe Bevan began to influence the game, his delivery flashing across the face of goal and forcing Passlack into an awkward clearance. At 2-0 down, Lewis Hamilton finally tested Sallinger, hinting at a late surge that Dundee’s earlier play had never promised.
Getting Bevan on the ball more clearly helped, but the cutting edge that had carried Dundee to recent wins over Aberdeen and Dundee United never truly reappeared. The absence of injured captain Simon Murray, watching on from the stand, hung over the performance. His energy and aggression in attack were badly missed, just as Pressley had warned before the match when he spoke about needing reinforcements up front and at centre-back before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
Hibs did wobble briefly when Westley pulled one back late on, a strike that injected life into a contest that had looked settled. For 80 minutes they had been in near-complete control; suddenly they were forced to see the game out under pressure.
They did exactly that.
Gray’s players dug in, found the answers they needed, and saw the job through. The head coach called it the right way to respond, his side having been questioned after their midweek exertions. This was his proof.
Pressley, meanwhile, did not sugarcoat Dundee’s display. He admitted Hibernian fully deserved the win, accepted his team had looked disjointed both in their pressing and their build-up, and conceded that Hibs had surprised them with a few tactical tweaks he failed to solve on the day. His verdict was blunt: take the medicine and respond.
That response has to come quickly. Another home game awaits on Wednesday night against Tayside rivals St Johnstone, a fixture that suddenly carries a little more edge and a few more questions.
Hibs, by contrast, stride towards Thursday’s Edinburgh derby with Hearts with momentum and a clear attacking identity. The challenge now is obvious: keep the same intent, add more ruthlessness, and see if this controlled performance can translate against last season’s Scottish Premiership runners-up when the city’s spotlight hits them at 19:45.
