Luke McCowan scored the winner in a tight cinch Premiership contest to give Dundee a 1-0 win over Livingston at Dens Park.
The midfielder’s stunning second-half free-kick came after the visitors’ Sean Kelly had seen an initial red card reduced to a yellow following a VAR intervention.
The result moved Dundee up to sixth in the table while Livingston remain 11th and have now lost four games in a row.
These two sides had played each other just eight days previously at the Tony Macaroni Arena with Dundee winning 2-0 thanks to a Joe Shaughnessy double.
Both teams had also been in action in midweek with Dark Blues boss Tony Docherty making three changes to the side that was beaten 5-0 by Rangers at Dens with Jordan McGhee, Zak Rudden and Lyall Cameron coming in for Aaron Donnelly, Scott Tiffoney and Malachi Boateng.
Livi manager Davie Martindale made just one alteration to the team that narrowly lost to Hearts with Mo Sangare dropping to the bench to be replaced by Danny Lloyd, making his first start for the Lions.
Michael Devlin had the first shot of the game from outside the Dundee box but his effort was easily gathered by Dark Blues keeper Trevor Carson.
As the half-hour mark approached, there was little in the way of flowing football with too many wayward passes and wrong decisions ensuring that both keepers were virtual spectators.
The best chance of the half finally arrived in the 37th minute when Livi’s James Penrice hit a superb cross from the left that was just begging to be put in but Joel Nouble volleyed over Carson’s bar from close range.
The hosts had an opportunity of their own soon after when Owen Beck hit a free-kick from the left with Ricki Lamie bulleting a header just wide of Livi keeper Jack Hamilton’s right-hand post.
The game finally burst into life after the break and there was a huge moment of controversy when Kelly chopped down Zak Rudden in full flight with referee Alan Muir showing the Lions player a straight red card.
However, the VAR Don Robertson asked the whistler to have another look on the trackside monitor with the referee changing his decision, showing Kelly a yellow.
Dundee were raging but that anger turned to delight straight after in the 57th minute when McCowan stepped up to take the subsequent free-kick and sent it flying into the top corner of Hamilton’s net from 25 yards.
Deep in stoppage time, Livi came agonisingly close to salvaging a draw but Carson made a superb stop from a deflected Bruce Anderson effort.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Pirlo sacked as Sampdoria head coach after dismal Serie B start
Andrea Pirlo has been sacked as Sampdoria's head coach after just over a season at the helm.
Pirlo, who managed Juventus for the 2020-21 campaign, has been relieved of his duties after an underwhelming start to their Serie B season.
After finishing seventh in Italy's second tier last term, the 45-year-old was given the green light to try and return to Serie A at the second time of asking.
However, an opening day draw with Frosinone was followed up with back-to-back defeats to Reggiana and Salernitana, leaving them second-bottom in the division.
During his time in charge, Pirlo won 18 of his 45 matches in charge (D10 L17), averaging 1.42 points per game, a total only bettered by his time with Juventus (2.15).
Sampdoria return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend in search of their first three points of the season, welcoming Bari to Genoa on Saturday.
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