Dunfermline 3-1 Dundee

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Dunfermline's heroes as they shocked Premiership high-flyers Dundee with a magnificent Scottish League Cup victory.

El Bakhtaoui's double either side of Cardle's goal sealed a stunning 3-1 success for Allan Johnston's team on a memorable night at East End Park.

Defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Dees manager Paul Hartley, who saw his team denied by the heroics of Pars goalkeeper Sean Murdoch in a thrilling second half.

El Bakhtaoui, who took his tally for the season to 11 goals, gave Dunfermline the lead after 11 minutes with a fine finish from Lewis Martin's cross before Kane Hemmings deservedly pulled Dundee level three minutes after the break.

A superb display from Murdoch kept the underdogs in it but Cardle's dramatic goal four minutes from time and El Bakhtaoui's calm finish in stoppage time sent the Dark Blues crashing out.

This was a superb advert for cup football and Dunfermline immediately created the game's first opportunity inside the opening minute.

A neat turn from Michael Moffat midway inside the Dundee half took him away from James McPake and he slipped the ball to Joe Cardle, who shot narrowly wide of Scott Bain's near post.

Hartley's visiting team were next to threaten as Julen Etxbeguren's header was well saved by Murdoch before Cardle stung the palms of Bain with a controlled volley.

It was an entertaining opening and there were just 11 minutes on the clock when the underdogs took the lead.

Full-back Martin found space on the right to whip in a dangerous cross for El Bakhtaoui to send an excellent first-time finish low into the bottom right corner from 12 yards.

The home side were displaying a lot of confidence against their top-flight opponents but Dundee began to enjoy more possession as the opening period went on.

They went desperately close to levelling three minutes before the break when Gary Harkins' delicate lob from the edge of the area clipped the top of the bar, but the goal Hartley's men had been threatening arrived three minutes after the break.

The influential Paul McGowan started the move, crossing from the left for Paul McGinn to head into the danger area, and after Ross' clever dummy, the unmarked Hemmings was able to drill home from 12 yards.

Hemmings was close to giving Dundee the lead minutes later with a header that Murdoch did brilliantly to claw away as the visitors gained a firm grip on proceedings.

The match threatened to boil over when McGinn was booked after 66 minutes for a crunching late challenge on Moffat. Pars boss Johnston was sent to the stand for his protests after referee Stephen Finnie refused to award a free-kick after playing advantage.

Greg Stewart curled an excellent shot just wide from the edge of the area as Dundee turned the screw before Murdoch produced superb saves to deny both Dylan Carreiro and Kevin Holt.

But with four minutes left, East End Park erupted as Dunfermline stunned Dundee by regaining the lead.

Michael Paton was the architect, playing a beautifully weighted pass to Cardle, whose shot seemed to take an age as it squirmed under Bain and into the net. Dunfermline's passage into the third round was complete when a break on the left saw Cardle pull the ball across goal for Paton, who teed up El Bakhtaoui to skip away from McPake and fire high into the net.