A disappointing display saw Livingston fall to their second defeat in two, with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dundee after dropping to ten men. Two late Joe Shaughnessy goals gave the visitors the victory, with Cristian Montano receiving his marching orders midway through the second half.

David Martindale ran with two changes from the side that were put away by Kilmarnock, with Cristian Montano and Steven Bradley introduced into the starting line-up, Scott Pittman and Mo Sangare dropping to the bench.

In a first-half with little incident, it was Dundee who appeared to threaten more, with Luke McCowan calling Shamal George into action as he burst through the centre of the park, but his shot was tame and easy to collect for the Livi number one.

Livingston’s only real chance of the half would come from Cristian Montano, making his first start since recovering from an injury which kept him out since August. Nice play down the right side from Dan MacKay allowed him to work the ball to Steven Bradley on the edge of the box. His pass to the left would find Montano, whose shot was screwed wide to the left.

Livi started the second half with a bit more promise, Montano again proving the driving force. Receiving the ball at left back, the defender sprung forward, showing his pace, as he reached the box, he unleashed a fierce strike, but it was wide of the mark.

Dundee were almost gifted a first five minutes into the first half. A ball flicked over the top of the defence by McCowan was poorly dealt with by Luiyi De Lucas, and his header fell at the feet of substitute Amadou Bakayoko. Through one-on-one with George, the Dundee striker would have hoped to have done better, with his shot easily saved.

Four minutes later, Zak Rudden had a golden opportunity getting onto the end of a beautiful through ball from the Dundee defence. His first touch drew him wide to the left, and his effort trickled agonisingly past the far post.

The visitors would put the ball in the back of the net minutes later. Rudden drove through the middle of the park before laying the ball left for McCowan. His composed pass found Bakayoko on the edge of the box who made no mistake in slotting the ball to the right of George in the Livi goal, however VAR ruled the goal out due to multiple Dundee players being in a offside position when the number nine took the shot, referee Willie Collum adjudging them to be interfering with play.

The Lions were reduced to 10 men on 70 minutes courtesy of another VAR check. Montano and Malachi Boateng would clash in the middle of the park, with the former appearing to stamp on the Dundee man as he lay prone on the pitch. Collum overturned his initial decision of a yellow card to a red, with the Lions facing an uphill battle.

Dundee would get their reward eight minutes from time. A long throw into the box by Aaron Donnelly would find its way to the feet of Dee captain Joe Shaughnessy, who poked the ball home from close range.

And just three minutes later Shaughnessy would double his and Dundee’s tally. A corner whipped into the front post was flicked on by Antonio Portales right onto the toe of Shaughnessy, who guided the ball into the bottom corner to ensure all three points would be heading up the M90 to the City of Discovery.

Match Report: David Hastie

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