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On Wednesday, the remaining matches of the 23rd round of the Scottish championship were played. The favorites - the championship leader "Celtic", the vice-champion "Hearts", and the "Rangers" club - won on a non-scoring day. The "Rangers" took advantage of the goalless draw between "Aberdeen" and "Hibernian" and rose to second place.
In the early match, the Edinburgh "Hearts" played away against "Dunfermline". Valdas Ivanauskas' team was without the injured Edgaras Jankauskas for the second consecutive match, Andrius Velicka was also missing, and Nerijus Barasa replaced Saulius Mikoliunas from the 62nd minute. The lack of forwards meant that Michal Pospsil and young Calum Elliot, who returned from "Motherwell", were given a rare opportunity to play in the attack for "Hearts".
The hosts started the match more actively, with the Frenchman Souleymane Bamba threatening Gordon's goal for "Dunfermline" and Stevie Crawford missing chances later on. In the 16th minute, "Hearts" took the lead - after a corner kick by Bruno Aguiar, the Czech M.Posipilas scored from close range.
After the break, "Hearts" maintained the initiative, with M.Zaliukas and C.Elliot attempting headers close to goal. The visitors had a chance to double their lead at the end of the first half, but Paul Hartley failed to score from a grateful situation, while McKenzie saved M.Pospsilas' header.
In the end, "Hearts" resisted the pressure from their opponents and could have scored a second goal in the final minute, but McKenzie saved Elliott's shot from a one-on-one counter-attack. The Edinburgh club secured their first win of the year but remained in fourth place due to results in other stadiums.
The "Aberdeen" club, who finished the match with a goalless draw against "Hibernian", dropped to third place as the Glasgow "Rangers" achieved victory away and climbed to second place.
In the match where captain Barry Ferguson was absent, the "Rangers" secured victory with Kris Boyd's penalty in the 70th minute. The match ended with ten players on the field as "Rangers" goalkeeper Marc Fitzpatrick was sent off for a foul and the Croatian Dado Prso was actively involved in the scuffles.
The leaders "Celtic" increased their lead to 17 points. In the debut of former "Hearts" captain Steven Pressley, Darren O'Dea scored the first goal after a penalty kick confusion in the 39th minute, and Aiden McGeady scored the second goal at the end of the match.
Results of the 23rd round on Wednesday:
"Celtic" 2 - 0 "Kilmarnock" 39' [1 - 0] Darren O'Dea 90' [2 - 0] Aiden McGeady
"Dunfermline" 0 - 1 "Hearts" 16' [0 - 1] Michal Pospisil
"Hibernian" 0 - 0 "Aberdeen"
"Motherwell" 0 - 1 "Rangers" 70' [0 - 1] Kris Boyd (pen.)
73' Marc Fitzpatrick ("Motherwell), Dado Prso ("Rangers") sent off
League table:
