91Èȱ¬

Liam Kelly's double gave Kilmarnock victory against 10-man Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

After quiet opening, Killie were awarded a spot-kick following Jamie Langfield's challenge on Borja Perez and the goalkeeper was also dismissed.

Kelly beat substitute keeper Jason Brown from 12 yards just before the half-time interval.

Aberdeen's Josh Magennis blasted a long-range effort against the bar before Kelly tucked home a late second.

Killie move up to eighth while Aberdeen slip to seventh and the gap between the two sides has been reduced to two points.

There were few chances in the first half but Perez did have an excellent opportunity to open the scoring when he went clean through on Langfield's goal from Gary Harkins' pass.

However, the Spaniard fired wide.

At the other end, Joe Shaughnessy headed over from Jonny Hayes' cross.

Perez troubled the Dons defence again as half-time approached and was taken down by Langfield near the byeline.

Referee Craig Charleston elected to show Langfield the red card, judging that a goalscoring opportunity had been denied.

Brown replaced forward Rory Fallon as Aberdeen reshaped with 10 men and the Welsh keeper's first task was to pick the ball out of the back of the net following Kelly's composed penalty.

Niall McGinn fired wide at the start of the second half as Craig Brown's side searched for an equaliser.

Kilmarnock also looked dangerous. Paul Heffernan heading Kelly's cross wide.

Magennis thought he had bundled the ball over the line but the Dons man was penalised for his aerial challenge on goalkeeper Cammy Bell.

Despite their disadvantage in numbers, Aberdeen began to dominate and Jonny Hayes fired over from the edge of the box.

Josh Magennis came even closer, rattling the goal frame with a powerful shot from distance.

Niall McGinn's free-kick was parried wide by Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell as the Dons continued to turn the screw.

But, after enduring further pressure, Killie broke away to seal victory with Kelly's finish off Rory McKenzie's cut-back.