Dundee United’s fine start to the campaign continued with victory over Hearts.
The 1-0 win secured Jim Goodwin’s side their third consecutive clean sheet and extends their unbeaten run to NINE games across all competitions.
A second-half strike from Ross Graham secured three points at Tynecastle on Sunday, taking the Tangerines to third place in the Premiership table.
1 – Aerial Threat
The two best chances of the opening 45 minutes both fell United’s way and came from inviting David Babunski deliveries.
Emmanuel Adegboyega skewed a free header over the bar from the penalty spot before Jort van der Sande nodded over from inside the six-yard box.
While Luca Stephenson was inches away from converting an equally dangerous cross from Kristijan Trapanovski.
That theme continued in the second half, with the Tangerines looking the most likely to break the deadlock from a wicked in-swinging Will Ferry corners.
Graham, who was excellent, had gone close at the back post before opening the scoring 14 minutes from the end.
With quality in the wide positions and a real aerial threat, opposition teams will need to do their homework before facing Goodwin’s men.
2 – System versatility
Ahead of kick-off, there was talk Jim Goodwin may switch from the preferred 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 for the Tynecastle trip.
However, the same XI started for the second consecutive week as United’s early threat came from wide areas on the break.
An injury to Kevin Holt didn’t change much with Vicko Sevelj coming on in a like-for-like 40th minute switch.
It was just past the hour mark when Goodwin decided to mix things up, taking off all three forwards and bringing on Louis Moult and Sam Dalby as well as midfielder Ross Docherty.
The switch to two up top gave United an extra man in the middle, and while it had little bearing on the winning goal, it allowed the Tangerines to see out the game with relative ease.
3 – Strong foundations
Defensive errors cost United goals in the opening weeks of the 2024/25 campaign but Jim Goodwin’s side have now kept three clean sheets in as many games.
Against Hearts, who had around 66% of the possession, the defensive block gave little away, with Jack Walton largely untested throughout the 90 minutes apart from a couple of comfortable saves.
Those strong foundations gave United the platform to take three points back to the City of Discovery and, in front of an anxious capital crowd, also ensured there was an inevitability the visitors would pile the pressure on Steven Naismith’s struggling Jambos.
The manager said: “All afternoon I felt really confident that they wouldn’t break us down.”
There will be trickier tests in weeks to come and it’s Rangers, bruised by Sunday’s Old Firm defeat away to Celtic, at Tannadice up next.
4 – Signings settling in
Thirteen players arrived at Dundee United in the summer window.
But despite the plentiful comings and goings, everyone seems to be singing off the same hymn sheet.
Trapanovski and Van der Sande linked well, while Babunski was threatening when afforded space.
Elsewhere, wingbacks Will Ferry and Luca Stephenson have hit the ground running and both put in an impressive shift on Sunday.
And Emmanuel Adegboyega looks to be settling in alongside Ross Graham and Declan Gallagher at the heart of the defence.
Jim Goodwin will be hoping for more of the same after the international break.
