Hibs just can't escape that sinking feeling. 

If matches stopped at 85 minutes, they'd be up staking their claim for a European place. But in increasingly gut-wrenching ways for long-suffering supporters, they're finding new ways not to win matches.

Sunday's draw against Dundee United was a harsh outcome in a match they dominated, a late VAR intervention affording the visitors a chance to cancel out Lewis Miller's opener. It was one that Sam Dalby did not pass up.

And so David Gray's side remain bottom of the Scottish Premiership after 11 matches. Here's how they improved their overall performance, but still walked away without a win.

Are Hibs creating enough?

Firstly, Sunday was not a bad Hibs performance. You could argue they were better against Dundee United than in the only Premiership match they've won so far this season, at home to St Johnstone. The first-half, especially, was mostly positive. A tweak to the midfield three saw Gray go with Nectar Triantis as his number six, with Joe Newell and Kwon Hyeok-kyu playing as more advanced eights.

Newell, especially, took up far higher positions than we've been used to seeing him. Dropping in to receive from the centre-backs was left to Triantis, with Newell and Kwon occupying United's midfield higher up. The midfield three was a major factor in how Hibs enjoyed a large territorial advantage for a significant period of the first-half, sustaining attacks in a way we hadn't really seen since those League Cup group games against lower-league opposition. United struggled to get out, with Hibs' midfield consistently picking up second balls to keep the play in the opposition half. The knock-on effect from this led to the goal. Hibs playing further up the park allows the likes of Miller to get into the box more readily, and he'd already made himself a nuisance for the visitors before heading in the opener. You can see via the average positions below, compared to the derby against Hearts, how Hibs were able to pin United back.

(Image: StatsBomb) (Image: StatsBomb)

Gray wants Hibs to be aggressive without the ball, and the Triantis-Newell-Kwon combination in midfield can provide that. Sunday was the second time they've all started together, the last being the 1-1 draw away at Kilmarnock. Afterwards, we wrote about how biggest question mark around the trio long-term would be creativity, as none of the three would even consider themselves as being in the same mould as, say, a Scott Allan-type playmaker. Newell can drive the team forward, and his range of passing is perhaps underrated, but it's not his natural game to play in the half-spaces and pick holes in the opposition defence. Kwon is dynamic and composed on the ball, but not a creative spark.

For all their territorial advantage on Sunday, StatsBomb data rated Hibs' xG as just 0.94 over 90 minutes, and they remain the joint-lowest scorers in the Premiership. As was the case up at Ross County, there were plenty of half-chances and promising moments, but not too much you'd consider clear-cut. All but two of Hibs' efforts on goal were rated 0.10xG or lower, with Miller's brilliantly-taken header among them. StatsBomb also noted that 0.64 of Hibs' total came from set-pieces.

(Image: StatsBomb)

Chances from open play have been a point of contention this season so far, and Hibs' main mode of attack on Sunday was to work the ball wide for crosses from Jordan Obita, who had a very good game. His drive into the box near the touchline, setting up for a cutback which Miller couldn't convert, is the type of moment Gray would surely like Hibs to conjure more often. Obita and Junior Hoilett seem to be on the same wavelength, and Hibs' attack as a whole would benefit if they could sprinkle in some variety.

Contrasts on the flanks

Although it was Miller who scored Hibs' only goal of the game, the eye-test suggested Hibs were generally more productive in their play on the opposite flank with Obita and Hoilett. In terms of pure involvement, StatsBomb registered 46 events for Hoilett, compared to 32 for Martin Boyle.

(Image: StatsBomb) (Image: StatsBomb) You can see above how Hoilett was more involved in Hibs' attacking play, and it became noticeable just how much of it was funnelled down that left flank. The Canadian was given an On-Ball Value (a measure of how a player's contributions increased or decreased their team's chances of scoring) of 0.05, third-highest in the Hibs team. Boyle, by contrast, was marked at -0.16, the lowest in the team. OBV doesn't always completely tell the story of a player's performance, but it does lend weight to the feeling that Boyle had another quiet afternoon.

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He remains Hibs' top scorer this season, registering five goals and five assists across all competitions despite missing a few weeks following surgery on a persistent wrist issue. And yet it does not feel as though Hibs are seeing the best of him. A peripheral figure on Sunday, it's a challenge for the coaching team to help him back to influential best. There is, however, a case for giving Elie Youan a chance on the right flank, so as not to disrupt the promising Obita-Hoilett partnership.

The VAR controversy

Analysis aside, the decision to award Dundee United a penalty was the most significant moment of the afternoon. Mykola Kukharevych was penalised for grabbing Emmanuel Adegboyega's shirt, with referee Colin Steven awarding the spot-kick after being advised to conduct a pitchside review VAR Greg Aitken. His decision was penalty, and Sam Dalby slammed home to earn United an unlikely point.

Moments later, at the other end, Hibs saw claims for their own penalty fall on deaf ears, with Dalby getting hold of Warren O'Hora's shirt as he sought to attack a cross. The incident was checked in the VAR room, but this time no review was recommended by Aitken to Steven. Gray criticised the 'inconsistency' in his post-match press conference, pointing out that the current guidance communicated to managers and players was that VAR would not intervene in moments where the attacking player's ability to play the ball was not impacted. It's believed that an example from last season, where Rangers' Connor Goldson was awarded a penalty after being pulled back by Aberdeen's Stefan Gartenmann at Pittodrie, was used as example of an incident where VAR would not be getting involved in this season.

(Image: Sky Sports)

On Sunday, there was no doubt Adegboyega was having his shirt pulled, but so was Triantis at the same time, and he was closer to the ball than the United player. In the claim that was passed over at the other end, O'Hora has a better chance of getting the ball than Adegboyega in the previous incident. It's little wonder Hibs feel aggrieved by it, even if Gray refused to let Kukharevych off the hook for taking a risk in the first place.

Of course, all this could have been avoided if Hibs had found a way to turn their dominance into more goals. The penalty obviously influenced the final numbers, but even with it United only finished with a marginally higher xG than Hibs. They had registered just 0.29 before the penalty, and up until David Babunski had a decent chance five minutes into the second-half, it sat at just 0.06. After two meetings with Hibs inside a month, United manager Jim Goodwin has said afterwards that he felt Gray's side to have been the better side, yet he has walked away from the double header with four points out of six. 

That tells its own story.