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On Saturday, the new season of the Scottish "Premier" League started. The defending champion Glazgo "Celtic" began with victories, crushing their opponents at home, and the vice-champion Edinburgh "Hearts" also won a hard-fought match away. Victories on the road were also celebrated by "Falkirk" and debutant "St Mirren", while one match ended in a draw.
The league began in Glazgo with a match between "Celtic" and "Kilmarnock". In the 25th minute, the new "Celtic" striker Kenny Miller took advantage of David Lilley's mistake and passed the ball accurately to the Polish Maciej Zurawski, who only had to tap it into the goal from close range. A little later, after M. Zurawski's pass, another debutant of the hosts, Jiri Jarosik, scored with a header.
In the 75th minute, the victory for the Glazgo team was secured with a precise penalty kick by the Japanese player Shunsuke Nakamura, and although with three minutes left before the end of the match the away team's striker Steven Naismith managed to soften the score, in the last minute M. Zurawski added a fourth goal to restore a three-goal lead.
Valdas Ivanauskas' coached "Hearts" began the league away with a match against "Dunfermline". Edgaras Jankauskas could not play due to a remaining suspension from the previous season, and Saulius Mikoliun gathered in Deividas Cesnauskas's place in the starting lineup. The hosts started the match more actively, but in the 15th minute, the guests broke through when Roman Bednar scored after a pass from Michal Pospisil.
In the second half, "Hearts" did not succeed, as Neil McCann hit the crossbar, and just over an hour into the match, the former Edinburgh team's defender Stephen Simmons equalized the result. D. Cesnauskis entered the field in the 70th minute, and in the 78th minute, M. Pospisil restored "Hearts" lead, as he rushed to the ball that bounced back from the crossbar after B. Aguiar's penalty kick and scored the winning goal. "Dunfermline" ended the match with ten men as Andy Tod was sent off the field.
"Falkirk" and "St Mirren" both achieved away wins with a score of 2-1, despite the fact that the home teams "Dundee United" and "Inverness" clubs scored their goals first at home. Meanwhile, "Aberdeen" was ahead on the road against Edinburgh "Hibernian" after Stevie Crawford's goal, but Deano Shiels' shot in the 31st minute helped the hosts secure a draw. The last matches of the first round will be played on Sunday between "Motherwell" and "Rangers".
Results of the 1st round on Saturday:
Celtic 4 - 1 Kilmarnock
Hearts 1 - 2 Dunfermline
Dundee United 1 - 1 Inverness
Aberdeen 1 - 2 Hibernian
