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In the Scottish Premier League on Saturday, four matches of the 22nd round were played. After a sensational failure in the cup tournament, the championship leader Glasgow "Celtic" recovered, winning their 17th victory. The "Lithuanian" Edinburgh "Hearts", with Nerijus Barasa making his debut, crushed "Dunfermline" away and distanced themselves from the other capital club "Hibernian", who suffered a defeat at home.
The "Hearts" team, missing injured Deividas Česnauskis and Edgaras Jankauskas this time, saw Saulius Mikoliūnas and Czech Michal Pospisil return to the starting lineup, while new recruits Nerijus Barasa and Lee Johnson remained on the bench.
The visitors took the lead in the 28th minute when team captain Steven Pressley redirected Calum Elliot's shot from a penalty kick into the goal, scoring in his third consecutive match. In the 54th minute, "Hearts" doubled their lead - after a great combination play on the right flank between S. Mikoliūnas and Robbie Neilson, M. Pospisil sent the ball into the net.
However, the convincing lead of the Edinburgh team lasted only four minutes, as former "Hearts" forward Mark Burchill reduced the deficit, but in the 67th minute M. Pospisil restored the lead with a header after a penalty kick, scoring his second goal of the match.
After securing the victory, "Hearts" coach Graham Rix gave a chance to N. Barasa, who had officially signed a contract with the club yesterday, replacing compatriot S. Mikoliūnas. With nine minutes left in the match, R. Skacel scored the fourth goal for the team, and later the Czech defender's shot hit the crossbar. "Hearts" celebrated victory with a score of 4-1.
Glasgow "Celtic" maintained a seven-point advantage over "Hearts", wasting a two-goal lead at home against "Kilmarnock", but eventually won due to a goal from Stephen McManus and Maciej Zurawski in the New Year's match against "Hearts".
Edinburgh "Hibernian" fell further behind the two leaders, suffering a 1-2 defeat at home against "Aberdeen" due to two embarrassing defensive errors. Meanwhile, "Inverness" released their playing coach to "Dundee Utd" and easily defeated the absolute underdog "Livingston".
Unusually, the remaining two matches of the round will be played on Sunday. "Dundee Utd" will host "Falkirk" at home, while defending champions "Rangers" will play away against "Motherwell".
Round 22:
Celtic 4 - 2 Hearts
Aberdeen 1 - 4 Hearts
Hibernian 1 - 2 Aberdeen
Inverness 3 - 0 Livingston
League Table
