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On Wednesday, the winner of the Scottish championship was revealed – with six rounds left before the end of the competition, Glasgow Celtic secured their 40th championship title in history after defeating Hearts in a fierce battle, increasing their lead to 20 points. Meanwhile, in the other rescheduled match of the day, Hibernian snatched a victory against Kilmarnock. In order to secure the championship title, Celtic had to achieve another victory, which they had to try to do against their main competitor in the battle for the title this season – Edinburgh Hearts, who they defeated on New Year's Day after an intense and dramatic battle. Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas made five changes in the starting lineup after the victory in the Scottish Cup semi-final – injured defenders Steven Pressley and Jose Goncalves were replaced by Christophe Berra and Takis Fyssas, while Julien Brellier and Roman Bednar returned from suspension to replace Bruno Aguiar and Calum Elliot respectively, and Saulius Mikoliunas surprisingly took to the field instead of Rudi Skacel. Early in the game, Celtic Park's hosts took the lead – after a free kick by the goalkeeper, C. Berra missed the ball, which fell to John Hartson's feet and he scored a powerful goal from about 25 meters, catching goalkeeper Craig Gordon off guard and taking the Celtics ahead. However, despite conceding a goal, the visitors remained calm, and although J. Hartson soon invaded the penalty area and had the chance to double the lead, Hearts took the initiative and Roman Bednar could have leveled the score soon after the penalty kick, but his shot was blocked by Celtic goalkeeper Arturas Boruc. Hearts continued to dominate and especially active were Lithuanians D. Cesnauskis and S. Mikoliunas on the wings, but they were unable to create more threatening opportunities, and Edinburgh defenders successfully managed Maciej Zurawski and Stilian Petrov's attempts on the other side of the pitch. After the break, Hearts finally sent the ball towards Celtic's goal – a header from C. Berra was "closed" from close range by another defender, Andy Webster, but it was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed. Shortly after, the visitors suffered another blow as E. Jankauskas had to leave the field due to injury. Despite the loss of their attacking leader, Edinburgh club threatened Celtic's goal for a while, but both Roman Bednar and S. Mikoliunas, who substituted Rudi Skacel, had their shots saved by goalkeeper Arturas Boruc. As the match neared its end, R. Bednar almost got through one on one with the goalkeeper after a long pass from A. Webster, but his effort was blocked by Bobo Balde's foot. However, after that incident, the referee did not award a penalty kick, and for overly active protests, Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas was sent off to the stands. The Edinburgh club threw all their efforts into the attack and could have equalized, but after D. Cesnauskis' pass, M. Posposil shot wide. Meanwhile, in the battle for the fourth place and a ticket to an important European tournament, Edinburgh Hibernian secured a crucial victory over Kilmarnock and surpassed them by one point in the league table. In the match held in the capital, the visitors took the lead after Gary Wales' goal, but Derek Riordan and Paul Dalglish scored in the last 10 minutes to help the hosts secure three points. Wednesday's results: 1 - 0 4` [1 - 0] John Hartson 2 - 1 19` [0 - 1] Gary Wales 80` [1 - 1] Derek Riordan 87` [2 - 1] Paul Dalglish League table
