© EuroFootball.com
On Saturday, there were four matches of the 28th round of the Scottish football championship. At home, "Hearts" played against the outsider "St. Mirren" and lost points, while the leader "Celtic" celebrated another victory.
In the first match of the day, top-ranking Glasgow "Celtic" played away against "Aberdeen", who were in third place. The visitors started the match well and quickly built a secure lead.
Receiving a pass from Shunsuke Nakamura in the 8th minute, Craig Beattie burst towards the goal on the right side and placed the ball in the far corner.
In the 20th minute, the goal was scored by the Japanese defender of "Celtic". S. Nakamura smoothly placed the ball in the opponent's goal corner after a penalty kick from about 20m.
At the beginning of the second half, Jiri Jarosik had a great opportunity to increase the lead, but his dangerous shot was saved by goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.
At the end of the game, "Aberdeen" added intrigue when, due to a mistake by the guests' defenders, Darren Mackie scored a goal. However, that was all the hosts could do.
In the match between Edinburgh's "Hearts" and 11th-placed "St. Mirren", three Lithuanians – Marius Zaliukas, Saulius Mikoliaunas, and Andrius Velicka – started. In the 76th minute, S. Mikoliaunas was replaced by former "Kaunas" forward Arkadijus Klimekas. The "Hearts" goal was once again guarded by Craig Gordon after a longer break.
In the 10th minute, Andrius Velicka shot dangerously from over 20m. However, soon after, "St. Mirren" scored a goal. After a pass from Garry Brady from the penalty area, Stephen O'Donnell, playing in only his second match for "St. Mirren", made his mark.
Five minutes later, Velicka slightly missed the goal with a header. The Lithuanian soon missed a great opportunity with a close-range shot. After the break, Velicka was replaced by Callum Elliot.
In the second half, while "Hearts" attacked, S. O'Donnell almost scored the second goal, but after a corner, he shot straight at C. Gordon.
However, Edinburgh footballers managed to equalize. In the 71st minute, Ghanaian international defender Laryea Kingston scored from 20m.
The "Hearts" goalkeeper Neil McCann had a chance to snatch the victory, but his header missed the goal.
In other matches, "Motherwell" narrowly defeated "Inverness", and "Dunfermline" and "Kilmarnock" also played to a draw, 1-1.
On Sunday, "Rangers" will face "Falkirk" and "Dundee United" will play against "Hibernian".
Statistics:
Celtic 2 - 1 Aberdeen
8' [0 - 1] Craig Beattie
20' [0 - 2] Shunsuke Nakamura
90' [1 - 2] Darren Mackie
Hearts 1 - 1 St. Mirren
10' [0 - 1] Steven Naismith
45' [1 - 1] Stevie Crawford (from 11m)
44' Simon Ford ("Kilmarnock") sent off
Motherwell 1 - 0 Inverness
45' [1 - 0] Scott McDonald
Dunfermline 1 - 1 Kilmarnock
14' [0 - 1] Stephen O'Donnell
71' [1 - 1] Laryea Kingston
League table
12th place
