© EuroFootball.com
Edinburgh "Hearts" Champions League dream is getting closer to realization - Valdas Ivanauskas' team defeated "Kilmarnock" on Saturday in the 34th round of the Scottish Premier League after a tough battle and took advantage of the stumble of "Rangers" who are currently in third place, increasing the gap between the clubs to 5 points.
Into the "Hearts" lineup for the match against "Kilmarnock" returned Edgaras Jankauskas, who had recovered from injury, team captain Steven Pressley was replaced by Christophe Berra, and instead of David Cesnauskas, one of the most prolific players of the Edinburgh team recently, Rudi Skacel, took to the field.
The first chance for "Hearts" after being thrown out of the sideline was had by E. Jankauskas, but his header missed the goal, and soon after, in the other half of the field, the best young player of the year, Steven Naismith, failed to capitalize on an opportunity with a weak header easily caught by Craig Gordon.
"Hearts" continued their attacks and after E. Jankauskas' shot was blocked by goalkeeper Alan Combe, Roman Bednar missed the goal with a second attempt from a great position. In the middle of the half, the hosts' defender Jose Goncalves left the field due to injury, and he was replaced by Senegalese Ibrahim Tallas, who had been sitting on the bench throughout the season.
The hosts continued to create dangerous assaults and E. Jankauskas contributed twice, but no one responded to a sharp pass, and Saulius Mikoliunas played poorly for the second time. At the end of the half, with Danny Invincible falling in the penalty area, "Kilmarnock" demanded a penalty kick, but it was not awarded, so the first half ended goalless.
After the break, the hosts continued to press the opponents, and although after E. Jankauskas' pass, Paul Hartley's attempt to throw the goalkeeper failed, in the 70th minute, the Scotland national team defender scored with a precise penalty shot from 20 meters, opening his and his team's scoring account. "Hearts" defended against the opponents' attempts to equalize the score, and at the end of the match, they secured the victory - David Cesnauskas, who replaced S. Mikoliunas, fooled three defenders and although his shot was saved by the goalkeeper, C. Berra, who was the first to the ball, headed it into the goal.
The joy of Edinburgh club's fans was doubled by the news from Glasgow, where the local "Rangers" failed to win against "Aberdeen". The hosts took the lead after a goal by striker Kris Boyd in the 50th minute, but the score was equalized by Scott Severin in the 67th minute. The match ended in a draw, so with four games left, "Rangers" are now five points behind the second place.
The third match of the 1st six between Glasgow "Celtic" and Edinburgh "Hibernian" will take place on Sunday, and in the 2nd six, "Inverness" won victories, defeating "Motherwell" away and surpassing them in the standings, as well as the outsider "Livingston", while the match between "Falkirk" and "Dunfermline" ended in a draw.
Statistics:
0 - 1
26` [0 - 1] Craig Dargo
1 - 1
50` [1 - 0] Kris Boyd
67` [1 - 1] Scott Severin
3 - 1
8` [1 - 0] Sam Morrow
19` [1 - 1] David Robertson
49` [2 - 1] Herald Pinxten
90` [3 - 1] Richard Brittain (11 m.)
2 - 0
70` [1 - 0] Paul Hartley
87` [2 - 0] Cristophe Berra
0 - 0
League Standings:
