Dundee 1-0 Kilmarnock

Greg Stewart's first-half penalty helped Dundee to a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership. The Dark Blues are now in seventh position in the table after coming through a recent sticky spell and deserved this win at Dens Park over Allan Johnston's off-form side. The home side took the lead in the 19th minute when Jim McAlister was brought down by Manuel Pascali and Stewart stepped up to sweep his spot-kick high past Kilmarnock keeper Craig Samson. Both sides were in an attacking mood and next up Alexei Eremenko tried his luck for the visitors. The Finnish playmaker managed to dig the ball out of his feet just inside the penalty area, and unleashed a shot which Scott Bain did well to parry to safety with a reflex stop. At the other end, Dundee defender Iain Davidson found himself in an unusual attacking position, picking the ball up on the edge of the area and firing a shot which went just past Samson's far post. After that, Stewart did well wide on the left as he danced past Kilmarnock full-back Ross Barbour and crossed for McAlister, whose effort on the run fizzed narrowly past the target. With the final attack of the first half, Gary Harkins was body-checked by Killie skipper Pascali. From the set-piece which followed, McAlister touched the ball to Harkins who, in turn, played in Luka Tankulic, but he wildly lashed his effort well wide of the target. Dundee remained on top after the restart and came close to going further ahead after 55 minutes. Stewart's pass on the edge of the penalty area fed Harkins who turned the ball onto his left-foot, only to see his shot come crashing back off the cross-bar and hitting Samson on the back before going behind for a corner. That was Harkins' last real involvement as he was later replaced by David Clarkson in the 63rd minute, after which Paul McGowan saw his raking shot go wide of the target from distance. Killie, by this stage, looked as though they had run out of inspiration although substitute Robbie Muirhead did his best to revive them, cutting inside and forcing a shot towards goal which was way too high. After that it was all Dundee again, with Tankulic setting up McAlister with a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 from close-range, but his half-volley spun into the air and ended up harmlessly going straight into Samson's arms. Killie tried their best to level towards the end with Muirhead and Eremenko doing all they could. But it was Dundee who held out with the kind of win which could have prove important come the end of the season in their quest to finish in the top-six on their return to the top-flight.