© EuroFootball.com
Once again, the Lithuanian Edinburgh club playing in the Scottish "Premier" league on Saturday lost their last hopes of fighting for the third place in the championship, guaranteeing a ticket to the next season's UEFA Cup tournament. "Hearts" for the fifth time this season failed to beat the "Motherwell" team and finished the match at home without goals.
Compared to previous games, the Edinburgh team's coach J. Robertson made only one change - Lithuanian D. Česnauskis ran onto the field instead of right back J. Hamill from the start of the match, while his compatriot S. Mikoliūnas again started the match on the left side of the defensive line. M. Kižys did not play due to injury.
Both Lithuanians were among the most active in their team, and after the match S. Mikoliūnas was named the best player of the game. In the 37th minute, receiving a pass from Česnauskis, he was very close to scoring a goal, but the Lithuanian's header was well saved by the goalkeeper. Nevertheless, at the end of the half, the visitors almost broke forward when R. Foran's penalty shot hit the post. In the 77th minute, Mikoliūnas created an opportunity for L. Miller, who shot over the goal, and shortly after, Česnauskis passed a precise ball to Mikoliūnas, but the shot was unsuccessful and neither team took advantage of the opportunities, ending the game in a draw.
Meanwhile, the other Edinburgh club "Hibernian" took advantage of their city neighbors draw and unexpectedly beat the league leaders Glasgow "Celtic" 3-1 away, solidifying their third position, leaving "Hearts" behind by just three points with 60 points. Dropping to the last place was the struggling A. Skerla's "Dunfermline", who lost 0-2 away to their direct rival "Livingston". The Lithuanian legionnaire played the entire match.
In other matches, "Dundee Utd" won the city derby 2-1 against "Dundee", while "Kilmarnock" won with the same result against "Inverness". On Sunday, second-placed "Rangers" will be able to reduce the gap from "Celtic" to two points if they beat the fourth-placed "Aberdeen".
