United boss: Poor defending, poor attacking, adds up to loss
QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 4
Dobbie (18, 70), Holt (28), Paton (77)
DUNDEE UNITED 0
A deflated Robbie Neilson couldn’t hide his disappointment after Queen of the South’s 4-0 cuffing of his league leaders.
The Dundee United boss said: “We lost two goals from set plays and it went wrong from there. We still created some good chances, but didn’t take them.
“And we didn’t defend well enough, we didn’t attack well enough, and if you bring these together, it sums it up.
“It’s disappointing that we brought a good support down and didn’t perform.”
He added: “We’re still top of the league and have three games coming up within a week and we’ve got to turn this around.”
Yet United had created the first opening with Paul McMullan cutting through the Dumfries defence from the wing and forcing keeper Robby McCrorie to save his shot low at the post.
Queens retaliated with Stephen Dobbie firing wide after making an opening.
It set the early pattern, with play switching from end to end, and defences keeping a tight hold on any breaks.
But Queens did make the breakthrough in the 18th minute when a free-kick from Michael Paton was headed across goal by Hamilton and Dobbie was on spot to put a low header into the net.
United quickly retaliated, with Lawrence Shankland testing the
Dumfries keeper with a close-range header.
But it was Queens who almost found the net again with a 30-yard drive from Kevin Holt smacking the crossbar with Benjamin Siegrist well beaten.
And Holt did put the Dumfries side further ahead on 27 minutes with a bullet header as he beat the United defenders to a corner from Paton.
United attacked with a fury and first it was only a desperate dive by keeper McCrory at the feet of McMullan that kept him from pulling one back, then the keeper held an effort from Louis
Appere just under the bar. But at the other end it was only a diving save by keeper Siegrist that kept out another header by Holt.
Queens were unlucky just after the break not to tie up the game when Paton slipped his markers but could only fire into the side-netting.
United were putting a lot into it in a bid to get back into the game and they worked a great chance when Appere was put through with a clear shot on goal but fired well past.
But Queens survived the pressure and hit United on the break in 70 minutes when El Bakh slipped the ball through for Dobbie to turn his marker and slot the ball home.
And they wrapped up the game on 77 minutes when keeper Siegrist fumbled a 20-yard drive from Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Paton was on the spot to slip the ball home.
Queens boss Allan Johnston praised his players for a “magic” performance, adding: “We showed some good quality and created some good chances.
“We’ve done really well against the top teams and we showed here that we can create chances and score some good goals.”