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The 25th round matches of Trejos took place on Saturday in the Scottish "Premier" League. The victories were won by the home teams - the leader "Celtic" crushing their opponents at their stadium and the "Hearts" and "Kilmarnock" clubs winning with a minimal advantage, while one match was postponed due to poor weather conditions. In Edinburgh, "Hearts" faced the "Falkirk" team, with whom they had drawn twice peacefully this season. Due to injuries, Nerijus Barasa, Deividas Česnauskis, and Edgaras Jankauskas were unable to play in Valdas Ivanauskas' coached team, while Marius Žaliūkas, Saulius Mikoliūnas and Andrius Velička started the match in the lineup, with goalkeeper Craig Gordon replaced by Steve Banks. At the beginning of the match, played in windy and rainy weather, both teams failed to attack their opponent's goal sharply, and the first more dangerous opportunity came around the 15th minute for the hosts' goalkeeper Paul Hartley, whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Later, Bruno Aguiar and Falkirk's defender Tomas Scobbie missed, and in the middle of the half, "Falkirk" almost broke through, but S.Banks saved Cedric Uraso's header from a corner, and Darren Barr missed a great position with his second attempt. "Hearts" failed to take the initiative more seriously, but their attacks were more dangerous and A.Velička's shot was saved by K.Schmeichel, and soon after, Christos Karipidis headed the ball just wide of the goal. The closest to scoring before the break was S.Mikoliūnas, who received a pass near the penalty area after a Paul Hartley raid, but the Lithuanian's shot hit the crossbar of Falkirk's goal. In the second half, the battle in the middle of the field continued, with no significant chances to score despite a missed penalty shot by P.Hartley and Alan Gow's attempt on the opposite side of the field. After an hour of play, M.Žaliūkas was replaced by Ibrahim Tallis, and eight minutes later, the Lithuanians were further diminished, with Andrew Driver replacing S.Mikoliūnas on the field. The game intensified in the second half, and both teams were close to scoring - first, after A.Velička's shot, the ball rebounded off the post, and a minute later, luck smiled on "Hearts" as Vitor Lima headed the ball into the net. However, in the 74th minute, A.Driver broke through on the right wing and made a precise pass into the penalty area, where R.Bednar, who appeared on the field after the substitution, directed the ball into the goal - "Hearts" took the lead 1-0. "Falkirk" later failed to launch a more serious assault on the opponents' goal and finished the meeting with ten players, as D.Barras was sent off the field for fouling A.Velička. This victory allowed "Hearts" to overtake "Aberdeen," who did not play their match against "Motherwell" and rise to third place, approaching the second-placed Glasgow "Rangers," who will play their match against "Dunfermline" on Sunday. Meanwhile, the "Falkirk" team was defeated by the "Kilmarnock" club, who won at home with a minimal advantage after Peter Leven's goal in the 61st minute against "Dundee Utd". The advantage over the pursuers was increased by 20 points as the Glasgow "Celtic" club successfully marched towards the second consecutive championship title, crushing Paisley "St. Mirren" with four goals in the last half-hour. The Dutchman Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored three goals for "Celtic," with one each from Aiden McGeady and Kenny Miller, while Stephen McGinn equalized the score for the "St. Mirren" team at the beginning of the second half.
Statistics of the 25th round matches on Saturday:
Hearts 1 - 0 Falkirk
74' [1 - 0] Roman Bednar
90' Darren Barr ("Falkirk") sent off the field
Kilmarnock 1 - 0 Dundee Utd
61' [1 - 0] Peter Leven
Celtic 5 - 1 St. Mirren
16' [1 - 0] Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
47' [1 - 1] Stephen McGinn
61' [2 - 1] Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Penalty)
69' [3 - 1] Aiden McGeady
75' [4 - 1] Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
82' [5 - 1] Kenny Miller
Matches postponed due to poor weather conditions
