Bojan Miovski penalty enough as Aberdeen defeat bottom side Dundee United

Bojan Miovski netted the only goal of the game from the penalty spot as Aberdeen ensured they would end the first half of the cinch Premiership in third place, while losing opponents Dundee United remain bottom of the table.

However the home side had to survive a second-half onslaught to earn the three points from a rare Saturday evening outing.

The opening period was even, with Matty Kennedy blasting over the bar from Aberdeen’s first chance, while – at the other end – a speculative Glenn Middleton effort deflected wide of the post off Ross McCrorie.

But as Aberdeen settled into the game, they began to play round the visitors defence, and although not creating much in the way of clear-cut chances, they were certainly looking the most dangerous.

The key moment came 10 minutes before the interval and it was the result of good link-up between the Dons front two.

Miovski showed superb footwork to create an opening and he slid a pass to Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes. The Cape Verde international seemed to be going away from goal but was pulled down by goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, and referee Willie Collum had no hesitation pointing to the penalty spot.

Miovski stepped up and comfortably converted, firing low to the left as the goalkeeper went the wrong way, showing no hangover from his saved spot-kick against Livingston in midweek.

And Aberdeen could have been two-up before the interval as Duk latched onto an awkwardly-bouncing ball to loft over Birighitti from the corner of the penalty area, only to see his effort bounce away from goal at the far post.

The Dons could have doubled their lead early in the second half as a Matty Kennedy corner found the unmarked McCrorie at the near post, but he could only steer an effort into the side netting.

Another corner five minutes later saw Liam Scales head back across goal for McCrorie, who this time saw his effort cleared by Kieran Freeman.

But the visitors came back into things, with Steven Fletcher’s far-post volley going high and wide, before the same player saw a header saved by Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos.

Roos was in action again to push Ross Graham’s volley from the edge of the area over the crossbar as the visitors piled on the pressure.

But it was the home side who could have sealed the points with three minutes left. Good work from Duk set Kennedy away, but with the option of a ball back to the striker or shooting, the Northern Ireland international blasted wide of the target.