Scotland round-up: Celtic close the gap
Sunday, May 4, 2003
Article summary
Celtic FC moved to within three points of leaders Rangers FC, who were held 2-2 at Dundee FC.
Article body
Celtic FC moved to within three points of Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers FC with a 4-1 win at Dunfermline Athletic FC.
Celtic chance
Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw at Dundee FC on Sunday, meaning Celtic were able to narrow the gap and have a game in hand on their local rivals.
Penalty drama
Meanwhile, the leaders needed a late penalty from Mikel Arteta five minutes from time to salvage a point, with captain Barry Ferguson having earlier failed twice from the spot, as his first effort hit the crossbar and his second was saved by Julian Speroni.
Early setback
Dundee fell behind in the very first minute as Lee Wilkie put through his own goal, but two long-range strikes from Fabian Caballero turned the match on its head and seemed to have earned the home side a significant victory before Arteta's late intervention.
Comfortable win
On Saturday, Henrik Larsson opened the scoring for Celtic, and two goals from Stilian Petrov made the half-time score 3-0. An Alan Thompson penalty completed Celtic's win, before Scott McNicol scored a consolation for Dunfermline eleven minutes from time.
Important win
Kilmarnock FC kept alive their hopes of a UEFA Cup place for next season with a 1-0 win against Heart of Midlothian FC. Hearts remained four points ahead in third place, but Gary McSwegan's cool headed goal ensured a tense finale to the campaign with three games left to play.
Strugglers draw
In the relegation pool, Motherwell FC remained one point adrift of Dundee United FC at the bottom of the table after the sides drew 2-2 at Fir Park. Stephen Pearson gave the home side the lead, but Dundee United recovered and equalised through Charlie Miller. Jim McIntyre seemed to have won the game for the away side as he scored with nine minutes remaining, but an equaliser from Tony Vaughan four minutes later earned Motherwell a valuable draw.
Home victories
Elsewhere in the bottom six, Davide Xausa, Rolando Zarate and Juanjo Camacho were on target as Livingston FC defeated Partick Thistle FC 3-1, with David Lilley scoring for the visitors, while Hibernian FC defeated Aberdeen FC by the same scoreline, with Derek Riordan scoring twice and Matthias Jack also finding the net, while Fergus Tiernan replied for Aberdeen.
