St Johnstone keep Tayside foes Dundee pointless with derby win
- Published
Highlights: St Johnstone 1-0 Dundee
Tony Watt's fifth goal of the season consigned Dundee to a third consecutive Scottish Premiership defeat.
The former Celtic striker cantered through on goal and slotted his 51st-minute shot under Jack Hamilton.
The visitors had created several good chances, with Adil Nabi and Benjamin Kallman going close.
But they fell behind to Watt's effort and could not find a leveller. Dundee remain without a league point and have scored only one goal this term.
Replacement Sofien Moussa had a brilliant late chance with a free header from six yards out, but directed his effort straight at Saints goalkeeper Zander Clark.
This was St Johnstone's first Premiership win of the season.
Blunt Dundee lack killer instinct
Dundee's midfield play was at times neat and occasionally incisive, with Glen Kamara calm and accurate in possession, feeding Nabi and Kharl Madianga to drive into threatening areas.
The former had a fizzing shot tipped over by Clark, while the latter fired narrowly over from outside the box.
Kamara teed up Kallman inside the area, and the Finnish striker did well to use his body and spin away from his marker, but his effort zipped narrowly wide across the face of goal.
There were these flashes of potency, but Dundee have lacked the ruthlessness to make them count.
Their alarming profligacy was illustrated at the death when Moussa rose to meet Jesse Curran's cross with the goal at his mercy.
Had his header been a yard - or perhaps even less - either side of Clark, the striker would have earned his team their first Premiership point.
'Dundee clueless in final third' - analysis
BBC Scotland's Jane Lewis at McDiarmid Park
Confidence - that was the main difference between the teams. St Johnstone didn't overwhelm Dundee - far from it - but when it mattered, the hosts had a striker who kept his composure, and finished brilliantly.
Saints will savour and look to build upon their first league win of the campaign.
Dundee have some positives to take from most of their four straight defeats in all competitions, but their bluntness in attack, softness in defence, and ongoing quest for a win could gnaw further at their confidence.
Former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart at McDiarmid Park
Dundee play some good stuff up until the final third. They're passing it around, they're trying to do the right thing, but as soon as they get to the final third they look completely clueless as to how they're going to open a team up.
It's a worrying time for them and I don't really see how or where things are going to change.
'We've been done by a mistake' - reaction
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "I'm really pleased to get the first league win of the season and really pleased with the performance. At times Dundee had a lot of possession but were not really hurting us.
"I've been here over five years and it's important you get that first win. In the second half we had more control of the game and fully deserved it."
Dundee manager Neil McCann: "It's yet another game we've lost by the odd goal and been punished for a mistake. That's three league games in a row we've been done by that.
"There is a lack of confidence because we're not taking chances but we need to keep a clean sheet - we're not pinning blame on any one part of the team.
"There are positives to take but ultimately I share the disappointment of the fans, going away with nothing to show for a lot of good play."