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Today were played the last matches of the 2005/06 season of the Scottish Premier League.
Earlier, having already secured the championship title, Celtic players played away against Aberdeen and took the lead 2-0 after accurate strikes from John Hartson and Shaun Maloney, but the hosts did not give up and, thanks to two goals from John Stewart, managed to salvage a draw.
In second place, the Edinburgh Hearts club met Rangers in Glasgow, who will have to settle for an unusual third place this season. In the final matches where nothing was at stake, the Rangers team celebrated victory, with Kris Boyd scoring both goals.
Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas gave his leaders a rest in this match, allowing less-played footballers to prove themselves. This resulted in recently recovered Nerijus Barasa playing the full match for the first time, Saulius Mikoliūnas coming on the field in the 81st minute, Deividas Česnauskis remaining on the bench, and Edgaras Jankauskas not even being registered for the match.
In the third match of the day, the Kilmarnock club defeated the other Edinburgh team, Hibernian, 3-1 at home but still remained in fourth place.
All 38 round results:
Aberdeen 2 - 2 Celtic
5' [0 - 1] John Hartson
61' [0 - 2] Shaun Maloney
69' [1 - 2] John Stewart
72' [2 - 2] John Stewart
Hearts 3 - 1 Rangers
5' [0 - 1] Steven Fletcher
48' [1 - 1] Steven Naismith (from penalty)
72' [2 - 1] Gordon Greer
75' [3 - 1] Colin Nish
Hibernian 2 - 0 Inverness CT
36' [1 - 0] Kris Boyd
74' [2 - 0] Kris Boyd
Kilmarnock 0 - 1 Livingston
53' [0 - 1] Alan Morgan
Motherwell 1 - 0 Hibernian
74' [1 - 0] Daniel McBreen
Rangers 1 - 1 Dundee United
60' [1 - 0] Jim Hamilton
86' [1 - 1] Collin Samuel
Most productive players of the season:
1. Kris Boyd (Rangers) 32 goals
2. John Hartson (Celtic) 18 goals
3. Craig Dargo (Inverness CT) 17 goals
4-6. Derek Riordan (Hibernian) 16 goals
Rudi Skacel (Hearts) 16 goals
Maciej Zurawski (Celtic) 16 goals
7-8. Paul Hartley (Hearts) 14 goals
Peter Lovenkrands (Rangers) 14 goals
9-10. Shaun Maloney (Celtic) 13 goals
Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock) 13 goals
Final standings table:
Note: Inverness earned 58 points, but couldn't finish higher than 7th place at the end of the season.
In the Champions League third qualifying round next season will play:
Glasgow Celtic
In the Champions League second qualifying round:
Edinburgh Hearts
In the UEFA Cup:
Glasgow Rangers
Gretna (Cup finalists)
In the Intertoto Cup:
Hibernian
Relegated to the lower league:
Livingston
