Yan Dhanda's first-half penalty secured a pivotal first win in five Scottish Premiership matches for Dundee as Steven Pressley's side moved seven points clear of bottom-team Livingston with victory against a flat Falkirk.

Visiting midfielder Finn Yeats was penalised for handball by the video assistant referee (VAR) in first-half stoppage-time after jumping and spinning to block a shot – one of few in a miserable first 45 minutes.

On-loan Hearts attacker Dhanda sent Scott Bain the wrong way from the spot with his second goal for Dundee, who remain in 10th but just two points off League Cup-winners St Mirren.

In their final game of a special 2025, Falkirk failed to sign off on a high.

It had looked like they'd be playing the majority of the match with 10-men when captain Brad Spencer was shown red for lunging in on Ash Hay, but referee Duncan Nicolson was called to the monitor by VAR and downgraded his decision to a yellow.

There was no such reprieve for opposite captain Simon Murray, though, when the substitute was dismissed deep into regulation time for a rash challenge.

Due to the stop-start nature of the untidy game, though, Falkirk had eight minutes of stoppage time to try and salvage a draw.

They couldn't though, and instead finished the year with a defeat which keeps them in seventh, after a game in which they recorded just one shot on target.

Boy, did Dundee need that.

It wasn't "fast or attractive", two qualities manager Pressley asked for pre-match, but when he reflects on this and prepares for the visit of Kilmarnock, he won't mind how these three potentially priceless points were picked up.

Two weeks ago, his side were two goals to the good at half-time at Livingston and on-course for a huge win. While the adverse weather played havoc, they didn't do enough to shut up shop and limit Livi. They did here, though.

Jon McCracken, though he had a few self-inflicted hairy-scary moments, didn't have all that much to do, which ought to have been a surprise.

No one more so than John McGlynn, the Falkirk manager who would have been eyeing up back-to-back wins for just the second time since their return to the top flight, following their win over Kilmarnock last week.

Their first, and only, shot on target came in the 88th minute of a match which signalled a bitterly disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic year for Falkirk.

Dundee manager Steven Pressley: "We haven't had enough of good performances thus far. We played more like how we train, with more fluency in our passing.

"The second half wasn't as fluent; it was a different type of performance. There was a nervousness around the stadium and understandably so.

"I thought the players were terrific, they played with such passion, determination and courage. I can honestly say there have been very few occasions where they haven't applied themselves."

Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "There wasn't an awful lot in it. We huffed and puffed a bit, didn't quite start the game as well as we wanted to.

"Dundee got themselves in a position where they shut up shop, and we didn't quite have the quality today to get something out of the game.

"Dundee are a really well-organised team, but we didn't turn the ball over enough, didn't have the quality and it just didn't quite click for us. It's not the end of the world, but yes, we're disappointed."

Dundee welcome 11th-placed Kilmarnock to Dens on Tuesday, 30 December (19:45 GMT) in their curtain-closer for 2025.

Falkirk are not in action until the new year, though, when they host Aberdeen next Saturday, 3 January (15:00).