Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
George Cran Drama at Dens but goals going in at the wrong end
NOBODY can accuse Dundee of being dull this season.
In fact, they’ve never been dull.
Because there is usually something chaotic going on somewhere.
This season, though, there is a competence about the team on the pitch that we haven’t seen in some time.
This is a good Dundee team, the best in years.
But it’s still Dundee and that means there needs to be some chaos somewhere!
It’s all about the late goals this term.
They’ve scored a few themselves but unfortunately for the Dark Blues it’s the ones going in at the wrong end that are the problem.
The stoppage-time strike from Robbie Deas was the seventh goal Dundee have conceded after the 90-minute mark in Premiership matches this term.
Three of those put extra gloss on an already winning scoreline for the opposition – Rangers, Celtic and St Mirren.
One at Kilmarnock put Killie ahead before Joe Shaughnessy scored an even later goal to level things.
As well as that Shaughnessy header, he grabbed a last-gasp winner at Ross County and
Zak Rudden knocked in a late leveller at home to Kilmarnock earlier in the campaign.
Those three goals earned the side four extra points.
That’s a very welcoming stat. However, when it happens against your team it is anything but welcome.
Killie, Motherwell and St Johnstone have all scored stoppage-time goals to prevent Dundee picking up big wins.
That’s six points given away from winning positions in stoppage time.
Add those six points into what is a completely hypothetical league table and the Dark Blues would only be one point behind Killie.
It is a problem, especially if you expand it out to the final 15 minutes of games.
More than a third of all the goals scored in Dundee matches this season came after the 75th minute.
Thirteen have been scored but 17 conceded.
The Dark Blues have netted 33% of all their goals late on but also conceded 34% of their total.
Again the overall percentage of the 89 goals scored in Dundee games have come in the closing stages – 34%.
Whatever you do, don’t leave a Dundee match early!
Games stretch longer than ever, legs are tired after 75 minutes of action – it’s logical that goals will come late on.
An explanation, though, doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
The biggest concern for me is that Dundee now have the worst defence in the Premiership.
Conceding seven at Celtic certainly didn’t help.
But lately they have been leaking goals.
Injuries to key players Antonio Portales and Ricki Lamie have been a real problem.
Since the turn of the year they have conceded 23 goals in 11 games, more than two every game.
If they want to finish in the top six, they need to stop shipping goals pronto.