Despite dominance in possession and a plethora of goalscoring opportunities in the opening 45-minutes, Motherwell failed to capitalise, with Tony Yogane netting his first goal of the season.
A magnificent Callum Slattery free-kick rewarded the visitors dominant start to the second-half, levelling the scoreline, with 12-minutes left to play.
However, the hosts stung the Steelmen in the dying stages of the game, capitalising on Motherwell’s attacking tactical alterations – finding space in the final third before substitute Finlay Robertson netted from close range.
Motherwell were unchanged from their 2-0 victory over Dundee United last weekend, with Jens Berthel Askou opting for the same starting XI and nine substitutes.
The visitors had the most enticing opportunity of the opening half to threaten the Dundee goal, with Austrian Lukas Fadinger bursting forward before teeing up talisman Tawanda Maswanhise, but the Zimbabwean’s low strike rattled the inside of stopper Jon McCracken’s boot.
Moments later, Fadinger had the opportunity to break the deadlock, rattling a powerful effort from 20 yards, but McCracken again reacted sharply to deny the midfielder.
Fadinger again forced the Scotland international into action on the half-hour mark, with the 25-year-old drilling Emmanuel Longelo’s cutback towards goal, but Dundee again survived.
Their defensive composure and Motherwell’s attacking complacency soon reflected on the scoreline, with the hosts hitting Motherwell against the run of play.
A looping delivery across the face of the goal fell kindly into the path of Yogane, who forced the ball beyond the reach of Calum Ward in the Motherwell goal.
Evidently spooked by Dundee’s sudden advantage, Motherwell almost gifted a second moments later, with Yogane nearly converting straight from the restart – but the forward could only head Welshman Cameron Congreve’s delivery narrowly wide of the target.
Motherwell rallied in the opening stages of the second-half, with attacking additions Eythor Bjorgolfsson and Regan Charles-Cook linking up well.
A floated delivery from Elijah Just was directed towards the back post from Bjorgolfsson, but Charles-Cook’s header failed to trouble McCracken.
Dundee caught Motherwell on the counter-attack yet again, and Congreve looked on in disbelief after his strike failed to find the back of the net, with the midfielder rifling an exceptional strike from 30 yards off the Motherwell crossbar.
Slattery almost brought Motherwell level with a free-kick at the edge of the box, but McCracken again produced an excellent save to deny the midfielder.
With 12 minutes left to play, Slattery would be gifted a second opportunity to convert a free-kick after Just was impeded at the edge of the penalty area.
Slattery stepped up and curled a magnificent right-footed finish high into the top-left corner, leaving McCracken with no chance.
Motherwell looked firmly in the ascendancy from that moment, pinning the Dundee backline deep into their own half, but the Steelmen couldn’t capitalise, and Dundee soon put the game beyond doubt.
A hopeful long ball caught Motherwell scrambling to recover their defensive shape, but Finlay Robertson smashed home from a yard out after a whipped delivery across the face of goal.
Motherwell remain in the hunt for the top three, with this afternoon’s result moving Dundee up to eighth.
