A Sofien Moussa-inspired Dundee cruised to victory at Cowdenbeath as they made it three wins from three in the Betfred Cup at Central Park.
The summer signing rattled in a first-half hat-trick as the Dark Blues eased past the Blue Brazil with a 3-0 victory.
Manager Neil McCann put out a strong side against their League Two opposition with skipper Darren O’Dea returning. Also back in were Scott Allan, Mark O’Hara and Glen Kamara.
Allan was first to test Cowdenbeath keeper Joe McGovern with a free-kick from wide before Cammy Kerr brought a good diving save with a long-range fizzer on 10 minutes.
The Dark Blues had started well and were passing the ball around crisply – a big improvement on Saturday’s display against Buckie Thistle and their positive opening brought an early goal.
On 17 minutes, Allan found space on the edge of the area and picked out Moussa at the back post. The big Tunisian didn’t need a second invitation as he hammered the ball home.
From there it was all Dundee and Moussa added his second after 23 minutes with a superb acrobatic effort into the ground that found the top corner.
O’Dea then almost got a third with a glancing header bringing a save from the keeper before Moussa missed a decent chance of a hat-trick, heading wide.
He did, though, get his hat-trick on 38 minutes. The move started on the right as Roarie Deacon jinked his way into the area before Paul McGowan lifted the ball across for Moussa to nod in to the delight of the good travelling support.
He had another chance with his head before the break but had to make do with just the three goals in the opening 45.
In the second period, Dundee again were in full control and came close to a fourth just three minutes after the restart.
McGovern, though, was equal to McGowan’s effort from the edge of the area, pulling off a good save at full stretch before his defence cleared with Kamara chasing in the rebound.
On the hour mark, Deacon had his chance to grab a first goal for the club after McGowan set him through in behind but with the keeper off his line, lifted the ball on to the roof of the net.
The Moussa show came to an end on 63 minutes as Marcus Haber got his first competitive minutes of the season with Randy Wolters also replacing Scott Allan.
Cowdenbeath created their best chance of the evening on 76 minutes as Harvey Swann took advantage of a wayward Kerr header by driving to the byline and cutting the ball across. Fortunately for Dundee, Kevin Holt was on hand to clear.
With the result never in any doubt from the first half, the Dark Blues cruised through the final minutes of the match to set themselves up for Sunday’s crunch derby with a 100% record in Group C.
Cowdenbeath: McGovern, Pyper, Rutherford, Mullen, Rumsby, Syme, Muirhead (McInally 82), Buchanan, Morris, Miller, Swann.
Dundee: Bain, Kerr, Holt, O’Dea, Kamara (Vincent 70), Moussa (Haber 63), Allan (Wolters 63), O’Hara, McGowan, Deacon, Waddell.
Attendance: 1,321.