Livingston 0-2 Dundee: Late Shaughnessy double earns win
- Published
Joe Shaughnessy bundles home his side's first goal
Defender Joe Shaughnessy scored twice in the final eight minutes at Livingston to give Dundee their first Scottish Premiership win in six and move them up to fourth place.
A rather uneventful game broke into life at the end as Shaughnessy bundled home following a stramash in the six-yard box.
The visitors then struck again just minutes later again as the captain side footed in after Antonio Portales flicked on from a corner.
Dundee had appeared to have taken the lead prior to the late drama before VAR intervened and an offside player was deemed to be interfering with play.
But after Cristian Montano was shown a straight red card for a stamp on Malachi Boateng on the 70-minute mark, Dundee dominated and finally find a route to goal.
David Martindale's side leapfrog Kilmarnock into sixth place, while Dundee - who were 11th at one stage on Saturday - are now in the European places.
Tony Docherty spoke pre-match about about wanting to shake up his side with alterations to his starting 11, but his side failed to show signs of life early on.
It was a similar story for the hosts as they were unable to impress the increased home crowd, swelled by some of the 4,000 locals who were gifted free tickets.
McCowan's first-half run was the highlight of the first 45 minutes but his lacklustre strike was gathered with ease by Shamal George in the Livingston goal.
Stern team talks presumably followed at the break with Livi starting in lively fashion as Montano's pitch-length run ended with a shot rippling the side netting.
Substitute Amadou Bakayoko thought he had broken the stalemate for Dundee, but strike travelled through a thicket of players, one of who was deemed to be offside and interfering with place after a VAR review.
Dundee looked to respond and were helped when Montano was initially shown a yellow card for a challenge on Boateng but, after a quick check with the monitor, it was upgraded to a red.
And from there, they took full advantage as captain Shaughnessy intervened twice in quick succession to secure all three points.
Player of the match - Luke McCowan
In a first half with little quality, McCowan was a standout with his mazy run a highlight. After the interval he assisted Bakayoko's ruled out effort and continued to be a source of attacking inspiration for his side.
Dundee finally find winning formula - analysis
Kenny Crawford, BBC Sport Scotland at Tony Macaroni Arena
Dundee had been starting to earn the label of 'draw specialists', so Docherty will be delighted to have earned a first win since the end of August.
Goals have not been easy to come by for the Dens Park club and Shaughnessy stepping up to the plate will be welcomed.
It may be a tight middle of the division, but Dundee being fourth a quarter of the way through the Premiership season is remarkable.
There are not a huge amount of positives for Livingston to take.
Christian Montano was one of their bright sparks before his dismissal. The Colombian had brought some rare joy with a good run and rising shot.
Martindale will be especially eager to take something from Tynecastle on Wednesday after two defeats on the trot.
What they said
Livingston manager David Martindale: "The sending off is a red card all day long, if I'm honest. Really, really disappointed and I'll deal with that internally.
"Then the game gets hard with 10 men, but we get done with two set-plays and I'm not putting that down to 10 men. Maybe how the ball got into the final third to concede the set-play but we've got to defend the set-plays better."
Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "Huge credit to the players for their second-half performance. I wasn't pleased with the first half. I thought we were too safe.
"I just said to the players there, I was really confident we could go and win the game but even if they didn't win that second half, that's the way I want to play."
What's next?
Livingston are at Hearts on Wednesday 1 November (19:45 GMT), while Dundee host Rangers at the same time.