Scottish Premiership REVIEW 22 Aug 2026: Dundee stun rivals United with derby double at Tannadice

Dundee moved level with the early Scottish Premiership pace-setters with a 2-0 derby win at Tannadice, Drey Wright's first-half strike and a second-half finish from Owen Bevan seeing off Dundee United on Saturday. It leaves Dundee on six points from three games, alongside Celtic and St Mirren at the top of the table, while Dundee United sit 11th with a single point from three matches. Our model had called Dundee to win at 46%, and that is exactly how it played out.

Wright's opener came two minutes before the break, the full-back seizing on a loose Abdoulaye Yoro pass before driving forward and finishing into the far corner. The Courier described it as an "unstoppable strike into the far corner" that had the away end in raptures. Bevan made it two on 57 minutes, turning home after the ball broke to Alan Forrest in the box.

Dundee manager Steven Pressley admitted the win owed little to his pre-match planning. "I was probably a little bit more animated than I normally am," he said, "because we set out with a tactical gameplan and we carried virtually none of it out!" He added that derby games "are not won on tactical detail" but "on courage, they're won on determination, they're won on grit," praising his goalkeeper Owen Goodman for a couple of key saves and his centre-backs for defending "with our lives." Pressley also pointed to the influence of injured captain Simon Murray, who travelled with the squad despite not playing: "Although he wasn't playing today, he was there in spirit, let me tell you."

It was Dundee's third win in their last four visits to Tannadice and, per the Scotsman, their second there in this calendar year, while for Jim Goodwin's Dundee United the defeat extended what was described as "an alarming start to the season." Wright, who had gone into the game as a doubt with an ankle knock, played the full 90 minutes.