Offside flag denies Ross County all three points against Dundee in postponed Premiership clash
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Dundee 0
Ross County 0
Ross County had to settle for a point against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership after a goalless draw – despite James Brown thinking he had won it for the Staggies.
The Irishman had the ball in the net, only for the offside flag to be raised. After a VAR check and a look at the monitor from referee Colin Steven, the decision stood, and County were denied what would have been a crucial breakthrough.
Simon Murray had earlier missed a great chance to score in the first half, but with Ross Laidlaw kept the busier of the two goalkeepers, County and Dundee may be left reflecting that a draw was a fair result in the end.
With both sides having been affected by call-offs in recent weeks, it was perhaps no surprise that it was a low-key opening salvo.
It took each team some time to find their best rhythm and tempo, with Dundee looking to send crosses in towards Zak Rudden and County trying to get Simon Murray running in behind the defence.
The first big chance of the game fell to Murray on a counter attack in the 20th minute, but it was Yan Dhanda who took the ball forward and played it into his path – only for County's top scorer this season to shoot straight at Trevor Carson.
Dundee immediately responded by going up the other end and forcing a save out of Ross Laidlaw, Finlay Robertson the man who took aim at goal.
Shortly afterwards, Rudden then had a go from the edge of the box that took a deflection – nearly catching Laidlaw out at his near post, but he did shift his feet quickly enough to grab the goal-bound effort.
While remaining a fairly even affair, it was the hosts who were getting more shots away, even if they were not particularly troubling for Laidlaw. He got across comfortably to save an effort from Amadou Bakayoko just before half time in the next shot on target.
Bakayoko was then inches away from connecting with what would have been a sure-fire goal, only just missing Robertson's cross from the left flank on the brink of stoppage time.
Two minutes after the restart, Robertson will feel he should have done better with a shot that meekly trundled into Laidlaw's hands after being set up by Rudden.
Things became quite bad-tempered in the second half, with a number of Ross County players picking up yellow cards. Dundee supporters even felt there were cases for both Yan Dhanda and Victor Loturi to be sent off.
There was a welcome sight for the Staggies on the hour mark though, as Josh Sims made his return from injury, replacing Simon Murray, and shortly afterwards the game burst into life.
James Brown thought he had broken the deadlock with a tap in at the back post midway through the second half, only for the offside flag to go up. Referee Colin Steven was encouraged by video assistant referee Andrew Dallas to go over to the monitor to confirm whether Jordan White was interfering with play from an offside position, but the offside decision was upheld.
Immediately after play restarted, Bakayoko had another chance to put Dundee ahead, finding space to shoot on the right side of the box but being denied by Laidlaw.
Things settled down again going into the last 20 minutes though, with the result still hanging in the balance.
Eamonn Brophy did have a sight of goal shortly after coming on, but his low attempt went the wrong side of the post.
At the other end, a Dundee substitute came closer as Diego Pineda forced Laidlaw to react quickly to dive low to his right to keep a shot out – repeating the feat once again from almost the same position as the 90 minutes neared their end.
That late chance essentially summarised the whole match, as neither side could find a breakthrough before the final whistle was blown.
Dundee: Carson, Beck, Shaughnessy, McGhee (Howley 77), Bakayoko, Lamie, McCowan, Robertson (Reilly 89), Rudden (Pineda 77), Boateng, Portales.
Subs not used: Legzdins, Kerr, Ashcroft, Donnelly, Sylla, Lewis.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall, Purrington (Harmon 75), Brown, Baldwin, Dhanda (Brophy 75), Loturi (Allardice 83), Murray (Sims 60), White (Samuel 83), Smith, Leak.
Subs not used: Munro, Turner, Sheaf.
Referee: Colin Steven
VAR: Andrew Dallas
Attendance: 4887 (113)
