Dundee 2-2 Hibernian: Late McGowan header earns hosts point in entertaining draw

Hibernian moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership despite Paul McGowan’s late header earning Dundee a point in a pulsating draw.

Ryan Porteous’ finish turned the game around just before the hour, yet substitute McGowan popped up in the box to nod home and secure a deserved draw.

The stalemate moves Dundee to ninth.

Victory for either Hearts or Aberdeen at Tynecastle later on Sunday will remove Jack Ross’ side from top spot.

As for Dundee, James McPake’s men are still without a league win this term but will be buoyed by an an impressive showing at Dens Park.

Midday Sunday kick-offs can sometimes be guilty for their dull atmospheres, but this one sparked early in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Charlie Adam almost set the contest alight when his rasping long-range drive had to be tipped over the bar by Matt Macey.

The home side started superbly and continued to torment the Hibs backline, as Paul McMullan sent in a dangerous cross to no avail and Cummings saw a shot saved.

But the former Hibs man would find the back of the net with his next sight of goal, controlling a whipped cross from Adam and finishing low down to Macey’s right.

Hibs looked rattled and struggled to get going, seeing slack passes go out of play and not matching up to Dundee’s relentless work rate. McMullan skipped by Alex Gogic and let fly, forcing Macey into another fine stop high to his left.

It took Hibs 25 minutes to get going, when debutant forward James Scott glanced a Josh Doig cross just wide.

Kyle Magennis then saw a close-range effort blocked, while Doig had to be stopped just before letting fly after a lung-busting run into the Dundee box, and Scott had a left-footed drive from 20 yards parried over.

You had the sense a big moment was coming for the visitors, and so it proved when Porteous’ excellent diagonal ball found Jamie Murphy bursting into the box, who went down after being clumsily barged from behind by Christie Elliot.

On the same week he penned a new deal at the Easter Road club, Boyle stepped up to coolly convert a sixth goal of the season.

The hosts responded well, as Lee Ashcroft’s header forced Macey into another smart save just before the break, and Darren McGregor had to be lively to cut out a Luke McCowan cross shortly after the interval.

The visitors then grabbed the game by the scruff neck as Boyle’s shot from the edge of the area took a nick off ex-Hibs defender Liam Fontaine and clipped the woodwork.

From the resulting corner, Ross’ side had the lead for the first time in the game as Porteous’ neat half volley nestled in the bottom corner via a big palm by Adam Legzdins.

The hosts seemed to run out of steam as Hibs continued to threaten through Boyle who flashed a strike over.

And the away side really should have wrapped the game up when Boyle unselfishly turned provided for Murphy on the break who had the whole goal to aim at, but the ex-Rangers man’s finish was poor and allowed Legzdins to parry wide.

With a raucous home support behind them and a just a goal in the game, one chance was all the hosts needed.

And that is exactly what they carved out when McGowan ghosted in to head home McMullan’s cross before wild celebrations ensued to cap off a superb top-flight contest.

Man of the match – Paul McMullan

What did we learn?

Despite still being without a win, McPake will be encouraged by his side’s character after a 6-0 drubbing at Celtic Park last time out in the league.

They will need that to consolidate a top-flight place, but they could aim for more than that with the quality they possess in attack.

Ross will be bitterly disappointed with his side’s failure to take a couple of guilt-edge chances at 2-1 after fighting back well to gain the lead.

With Kevin Nisbet missing, you wonder if the game might have been out of sight with the Scotland striker on the pitch.

Not only that, but the Hibs man’s underrated link-up play and ability to drop deep is so crucial to the way Ross’ side control games, and that was badly missing at times at Dens Park.

What’s next?

Both sides return to action next Saturday (15:00 BST) as Dundee go to Motherwell and Hibs welcome Livingston.

More to follow.