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After five weeks of absence from matches due to injury, Lithuanian national team striker Edgaras Jankauskas returned impressively to the lineup - on Saturday in the 27th round of the Scottish Premiership, two goals from the Lithuanian helped Edinburgh's "Hearts" club to crush "Motherwell" and maintain their lead in third place after defeating Glazgo "Rangers". "Hearts" suffered a painful defeat at home to "Aberdeen" in the last round and experienced another setback that distanced them from leader Glazgo "Celtic". However, this time, there were three Lithuanian legionnaires in the lineup - striker Edgaras Jankauskas, Deividas Česnauskis, and Saulius Mikoliūnas, who started the match alongside Czech Roman Bednar, who returned from a difficult injury. Meanwhile, injured Nerijus Barasa was not included in the match protocol. Already in the third minute of the match against "Motherwell" at the "Tynecastle" stadium, spectators could breathe more easily, as a ball hit into the crossbar saved goalkeeper Craig Gordon. However, a minute later, "Hearts" took the lead - after a pass from Takis Fyssas, Rudi Skacel's shot was saved by goalkeeper Colin Meldrum, but Edgaras Jankauskas was first to the ball and scored a close-range goal to put his team ahead. In the 14th minute, in a rare beautiful attack, the Edinburgh club doubled their lead: Jankauskas made a precise pass to countryman Česnauskis, whose shot was blocked by "Motherwell" defender Martyn Corrigan, but the Lithuanian striker, feeling the scent of goals, fantastically sent the ball into the top corner of the net from the penalty area approach. In the second half, the visitors had better chances, but in the 57th minute, McDonald missed the target, and later a shot from Stephen Craigan hit the crossbar to save the "Hearts" team again. In the 70th minute, Jankauskas was replaced by Bednar, who also returned after an injury, but it was young Calum Elliot who secured the victory for the home team, receiving a pass from Fyssas and calmly lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper. At the end of the match, Johnson replaced Česnauskis, and Mikoliūnas ran onto the field instead of Brellier, but the result stayed the same - "Hearts" won with a crushing three-goal lead. Edgaras Jankauskas, scoring two goals in a Scottish "Premier" league match for the first time in his career, was named the most valuable player of the match. The leader "Celtic", with a ten-point advantage over the Edinburgh club, will play their match against "Dumferline" tomorrow, while "Rangers", trailing "Hearts" by eight points, defeated "Hibernian" 2-0 at home and rose to third place in the league table. The goals for the defending champions Glazgo club were scored by the most productive player of the league, Kris Boyd, and team captain Barry Ferguson. In other matches, clubs occupying higher positions in the league emerged victorious. "Kilmarnock" recovered at home after conceding a goal and defeated the new "Livingston" team 3-1, "Aberdeen" won by a narrow margin against "Falkirk", and "Dundee Utd" in a hectic and high-scoring match failed to maintain their lead twice and had to acknowledge the superiority of "Inverness CT". Saturday's results of the 27th round: 3 - 1 14` [0 - 1] Steven Hislop 22` [1 - 1] Gary Wales 27` [2 - 1] Steven Naismith 59` [3 - 1] Danny Invincibile 2 - 0 40` [1 - 0] Kris Boyd 74` [2 - 0] Barry Ferguson 1 - 0 34` [1 - 0] Jamie Smith 3 - 0 4` [1 - 0] Edgaras Jankauskas 14` [2 - 0] Edgaras Jankauskas 78` [3 - 0] Calum Elliot 2 - 4 18` [1 - 0] Charles Mulgrew 30` [1 - 1] Darren Dods 40` [2 - 1] Charles Mulgrew 45` [2 - 2] Dennis Wyness 49` [2 - 3] Craig Dargo 85` [2 - 4] Alan Morgan
