Paatelainen's side opened the scoring through Steve Fletcher

Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen says Dundee United's Mark de Vries went down too easily under Thierry Gatheussi's challenge to earn his side a vital penalty against Hibernian in the SPL.

Noel Hunt converted the spot-kick after Dean Shiels gave Hibs the lead in a thrilling match at Tannadice.

"He is going nowhere, Thierry should have just jockeyed instead of trying to win the ball," said Paatelainen.

"All credit to De Vries, he used his body well, got his body in the way."

Hibs striker Steven Fletcher missed an opportunuity to snatch a late winner when Lukasz Zaluska came off his line to save his low shot, but Paatelainen felt the Pole played a pivotal role in the match.

"We played really well, we passed the ball and created loads of chances.

"All credit to their goalkeeper, they only conceded one.

"We could have scored more - I felt we deserved the victory."