Once again there was an atmosphere of frustration as the full-time whistle sounded at Easter Road on Saturday, followed by the all-too-familiar chorus of jeers from some sections of the home support.
After coming from behind to take the lead in the second half with fewer than 20 minutes remaining, Hibs conceded late on with Simon Murray grabbing a late equaliser and in doing so, ensuring a 2-2 draw - a scoreline that, after last season, most Hibs fans would gladly never see again.
I took a deep dive into the two goals we lost.
First goal; Scott Tiffoney, 9'
The first goal resulted from poor build-up play, which I thought, barring a few occasions, was poor throughout the game. With David Gray changing back into a 4231 after going with a back five at Celtic Park, debuts for Kwon Hyeok-kyu and Nicky Cadden, and a general nervousness after the last few games, perhaps it was understandable.
The starting point was a turnover in the middle of the pitch. Marvin Ekpiteta tried to pick out Mykola Kukharevych, who was outmuscled by Mohamed Sylla. I’ve also highlighted Lewis Miller’s positioning, as I think he needs to be higher when we are playing out. He’s got so much pace and speed; we want him stepping forward with the ball in higher parts of the pitch.
Dundee transitioned quickly and although Luke McCowan found good space after Murray’s run into the channel Kukharevych, Kwon and Miller managed the situation fairly well. It resulted in a 3-v-3 down our right side, Kukharevych’s tackle falling for Tiffoney who laid the ball back out to Murray to deliver a deep cross towards the back post.
Joe Newell dropped back in beside Warren O’Hora, which I felt was too deep. He should ideally have been further up, at the edge of the box. Whether his attempted, yet ultimately missed, header had any bearing on Jordan Obita’s clearance, I don’t know. Either way, Obita’s clearance was undercooked and fell nicely for Lyall Cameron at the edge of the box.
Kukharevych and Martin Boyle began to move up the pitch, with Dundee’s left-back Ziyad Larkeche in pursuit. This left Kwon and Miller with Tiffoney. Murray is still a threat in behind Miller, but the immediate danger is Tiffoney. Both are watching the play unfold in front of them, with Cameron easily evading O’Hora and sliding the ball into Tiffoney’s path allowing him an unchallenged shot from close range, with a value of 0.34xG, which essentially means that if Tiffoney, or any player, was presented with that sort of chance, they should really have a one in three chance of scoring.
Second goal; Simon Murray, 88'
Here’s the timeline to disaster, if you like. In the 72nd minute, substitute Kieron Bowie nets his first Hibs goal to put us 2-1 ahead. Dundee manager Tony Docherty responded three minutes later by introducing Curtis Main and Ethan Ingram and changing shape to a 352.
Gray responded by replacing Rudi Molotnikov with Nathan Moriah-Welsh on 78 minutes, and Kukharevych with Rocky Bushiri on 83 minutes. The introduction of a third centre-back allowed Hibs to match Dundee's 352.
Having watched that period back, the match is fairly even. If anything, I would say Dundee are beginning to get back into the game immediately after Bowie’s goal. I can understand supporters being frustrated by the substitution of Kukharevuych for Rocky and the change in shape, but when Main joined Murray as a front two for Dundee and they went with wingbacks, Gray was right in his thinking to match them up. Kukharevych was tiring, we had Bowie on to fulfil the target-man role and Boyle provided pace in behind. Fans criticised Nick Montgomery last season for not making any changes as we watched games run away from us, so I don’t think this one is on Gray.
Hibs did get a scare a few minutes before the goal, when the marauding Antonio Portales underlapped down our left side, cutting the ball back to Simon Murray who slipped before he could connect with the ball. In the build-up to the goal, you could see O’Hora trying to push the defensive line higher up, but we kept dropping back and this created a bit of imbalance and spaces across the defence.
If you were being super critical, you could say Newell should get tighter to Luke McCowan and Boyle could stop the ball from Portales, but credit to Dundee, they worked it well.
I thought the gap between Ekpiteta and O’Hora was too big, with Ekpiteta trying to step up as the ball reaches Portales. This ended up taking a vital few yards out of his recovery run to block Murray’s shot. O’Hora got caught out by good movement from Murray, who took him completely out of the game – the Irishman couldn't really make contact, otherwise he'd be looking at conceding a penalty and a potential red card. Murray manages to hold off O'Hora and tuck the ball under Joe Bursik but the xG was lower than Tiffoney's opener at just 0.14.
Conclusion - where do we go now?
The goals we’ve lost so far this season have been poor. There have been a lot of unforced errors for which the players need to take responsibility. To defend Gray a little further, it is always incredibly challenging to integrate new players into a squad, let alone a first eleven under the sort of pressure facing Hibs at the minute. Against Dundee, we had seven players in the starting XI who either weren’t playing, or weren't here, last season. It's worth bearing in mind that with Junior Hoilett still recovering from injury and Bowie still getting up to speed, that could rise to nine players depending on who they replace. With a high likelihood of more incomings and further outgoings over the next few days, it will continue to be a hopefully exciting, but ultimately challenging time.
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To be critical of Gray, we need to get a set shape, set patterns, and begin to get a settled eleven in place. I know he wants to be flexible with shapes and I am behind that idea, but right now, we need consistency and clarity. For example, we looked to play out from the back against Celtic and despite the third goal, we did it very well. Against Dundee, it was as if we had abandoned that principle altogether. Looking ahead to the coming weekend and a trip to Rugby Park on Sunday, Kilmarnock are struggling for form and points like us, so what was already a big game is looking even more important now.
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