© EuroFootball.com
In the Scottish Premier League on Saturday, despite poor weather conditions, the favorites claimed victories in the 28th round matches - leader Glasgow "Celtic" extended their lead over the chasing pack, with wins over "Rangers," "Hibernian," and "Kilmarnock" continuing to fight for the third spot, while "Motherwell" was the only team to win away.
"Celtic" faced "Aberdeen" at home, a team that had been successful in recent months, and although the visitors were saved by good goalkeeping from Jamie Langfield in the first half, the hosts broke through in the second half when Stilian Petrov scored a powerful shot after a pass from Maciej Zurawski.
Within nine minutes, "Celtic" doubled their lead through a goalkeeper's mistake by Shauns Maloney, and in the penultimate minute, M.Zurawski scored a goal. Glasgow club won 3-0 and now leads with 16 points, ahead of second-placed Edinburgh "Hearts," who will play their match against "Livingston" on Sunday.
The third-place Glasgow "Rangers" reduced the gap to five points from "Hearts" - the country's champions defeated "Falkirk" away. The most productive player in the championship, Kris Boyds, led "Rangers" forward, and although Russell Latapy later managed to level the score, the victory was sealed by Marko Twaddle's own goal.
Once again, the opponents were defeated by Edinburgh "Hibernian," whose ranks no longer included negotiations for the transfer of one of the team's leaders, Gary O`Connor, successfully beaten this time at home after a strong performance in the first half by "Dundee Utd." The goals for the winners were scored by D.Riordan, Chris Kellen, an own goal by Alan Archibald, and a consolation goal by David Goodwillie for the away team.
The fight for the third spot remains with "Kilmarnock," who narrowly beat "Dunfermline" - the only goal of the match was scored by Danny Invincibile. Meanwhile, "Motherwell" defeated "Inverness" away thanks to Richie Foran's penalty kick, and closed in on their rivals in the league table.
28th round results:
3-0
66' [1-0] Stilian Petrov
75' [2-0] Shaun Maloney
89' [3-0] Maciej Zurawski
1-2
57' [0-1] Kris Boyd
66' [1-1] Russell Latapy
70' [1-2] Mark Twaddle (own goal)
3-1
6' [1-0] Derek Riordan
25' [2-0] Alan Archibald (own goal)
33' [3-0] Christopher Killen
89' [3-1] David Goodwillie
0-1
51' [0-1] Richie Foran (11m.)
1-0
9' [1-0] Danny Invincibile
League table
