"Celtic" in Scotland is far from persecutors. © EuroFootball.com

Four matches were played on Saturday in the Scottish Premier League. The leader "Celtic", defending their championship title, is increasingly distancing themselves from their competitors, taking advantage of the unexpected failure of "Hearts", who occupy second place at home, increasing their lead to 8 points, while victories at their home grounds were also achieved by "Aberdeen" and "Inverness". Valdas Ivanauskas made four changes for his Edinburgh "Hearts" team's starting eleven match against "Kilmarnock", benching Andrius Velicka, Jamie Mole, and Marius Zaliukas, who unexpectedly played in the Edinburgh derby last week. The team was also without the disqualified Saulius Mikoliunas, but the recovered Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Cesnauskis also took to the field together. It was these two Lithuanians who created the first dangerous attack for "Hearts", but after D. Cesnauskis's pass, E. Jankauskas's shot hit the defender Gordon Greer beyond the goal line. The guests resisted the first attacks of the hosts and broke forward in the middle of the first half - after Steven Naismith's run resulted in a goal by Danny Invincibile against the captain of the Edinburgh team Steven Pressley. Within seven minutes, "Kilmarnock" already led by 2-0, as Gary Wales, a former "Hearts" forward, had the opportunity to score after a mistake by Mirsad Beslija, and his shot deflected off Christophe Berra and entered Craig Gordon's defended goal. This sequence of events disturbed the hosts and they were unable to create anything in the first half. In the second half, after 11 minutes, E. Jankauskas was replaced by Andrius Velicka. The former "Kaunas" striker activated the "Hearts" attack and after his pass, one of the best opportunities to score was for Czech Roman Bednar, but he also missed the target. Still, "Kilmarnock" controlled the game and could have further increased their lead, but Peter Leven's shot went straight to the goalkeeper. "Hearts" suffered their third defeat of the season in the league, while this victory allowed "Kilmarnock" to temporarily rise to third place. "Hearts" loss allowed the leader Glasgow "Celtic" to extend their lead, as they forced "Motherwell" to surrender at home. The "Celts", who acquired an eight-point lead, scored goals in different halves through Polish striker Maciej Zurawski and an 77th minute goal by Scott McDonald further frustrated the home fans. In fourth place, after a great victory against "Falkirk" at home in the last 20 minutes, is the "Inverness" team. The guests led by 2-0 after two goals from Anthony Stokes, but in the 70th minute, the hosts' hope was revived by Craig Dargo, and the victory for "Inverness" was determined by John Rankin's precise penalty kicks in the 82nd and 86th minutes. Sharing the 5th and 6th positions are Glasgow "Rangers", who had a tough win against the outsider "Aberdeen", who defeated "Dundee Utd" easily at home. Two goals were scored by Barry Nicholson for the winners, one by Darren Mackie, and for the losers, Barry Robson scored from the penalty spot. In the last round, "Dunfermline" and Edinburgh "Hibernian" will play on Monday. Results of the Saturday matches of the 11th round 0 - 2 28' [0 - 1] Daniel Invincibile 35' [0 - 2] Gary Wales 2 - 1 16' [1 - 0] Maciej Zurawski 66' [2 - 0] Maciej Zurawski 77' [2 - 1] Scott McDonald 3 - 1 36' [1 - 0] Darren Mackie 47' [2 - 0] Barry Nicholson 70' [2 - 1] Barry Robson (11m.) 71' [3 - 1] Barry Nicholson 3 - 2 41' [0 - 1] Anthony Stokes 51' [0 - 2] Anthony Stokes 70' [1 - 2] Craig Dargo 82' [2 - 2] John Rankin 86' [3 - 2] John Rankin

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