McDonald double gives Celtic hope
A Scott McDonald double strike has breathed life back into their chase to retain the Scottish Premier League title, after yet another pulsating Old Firm derby match against Rangers.
A Scott McDonald double strike has breathed life back into their chase to retain the Scottish Premier League title, after yet another pulsating Old Firm derby match against Rangers.
McDonald scored twice in the first half and earned the penalty for Celtic-s winner in the second half, in the 3-2 win that sent Celtic five points clear of their arch rivals, although Rangers do have three games in hand.
McDonald, the SPL-s leading marksmen this season, showed just why after only four minutes, when he got on the end of nod down by Jan Vennegor of Hesselink to drill home his 20th goal of the season (not including other competitions).
After Rangers then went 2-1 up, McDonald leveled it up just three minutes before half time for his 21st goal, when his shot from the edge of the area, took a deflection and lobbed over the keeper.
Then with the game, McDonald found himself manhandled to the ground in the penalty area with 20 minutes left and Barry Robson made no mistake with the spot kick.
Meanwhile in the battle for promotion to the English Premier League, Hull City, minus Aussie midfielder Richard Garcia who is still injured, remain third and still with a chance of automatic promotion after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. They are three points behind leaders Stoke City and two behind West Brom, who have game against Southampton tonight.
The news wasn-t so good for Nick Carle and his Bristol City side, who went down 2-1 at a David Carney-less Sheffield United, which effectively ended their slim automatic promotion hopes. Carle played a full game and was denied twice in the second half by the United keeper with excellent saves. Bristol-s promotion to the Premier League now lies in the play-offs which will start in early May.
In other news, Joshua Kennedy-s season is over for Karlsruhe after twisting an ankle at training. Karlsruhe had a 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen, while FC Nurnberg squandered a two goal lead to draw 2-2 with fellow relegation rivals Arminia Bielefeld. Michael Beauchamp and Matt Spiranovic stayed on the bench, as Nurnberg is two points from safety with four games to go.
In the English Premier League, only several Aussies saw action with Lucas Neill (West Ham and Mark Viduka (Newcastle United) facing off in a 2-2 draw at Upton Park. Neill played a full game, while Viduka was replaced after 82 minutes. Brad Jones got a rare start in Mark Schwarzer-s absence from the Middlesbrough side, although Boro lost 3-2 to local rivals Sunderland, while Brett Emerton played a full game as Blackburn Rovers won 1-0 away at Portsmouth.