All the final-day drama in the Scottish Premiership was at Easter Road, where Hibernian and Rangers played out a remarkable 5-5 draw, as Aberdeen secured second place in the league.
Rangers had to better Aberdeen’s result at Celtic Park, where defender Andrew Considine scored the crucial goal early in the second half and Shay Logan was shown a red card after the final whistle. But Hibs opened up a 3-0 lead inside just 22 minutes as Florian Kamberi, Scott Allan and Jamie Maclaren all found the net.
Rangers then produced a stunning fightback as James Tavernier and Jordan Rossiter reduced the deficit before the half-hour. Bruno Alves then levelled with a free kick five minutes before half-time. Remarkably, Jason Holt had the visitors in front at 4-3 after 54 minutes, with Josh Windass adding a fifth goal on 68 minutes.
In a crazy finale Maclaren brought Hibs back into the match with 20 minutes left before midfielder Holt was shown a red card late on. Maclaren completed his hat-trick deep into stoppage time – with Hibs manager Neil Lennon sent off after running on to the pitch to celebrate.
In front of a packed house at Celtic Park, with the home side celebrating seven successive title wins and the trophy presentation set for after the match, Considine broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half.
Aberdeen held out to register their first league win at Celtic Park in 26 attempts, but only after defender Logan was given a straight red card.
Despite the disappointment of a first league defeat in 10 games, Brendan Rodgers’s side can still go on to claim an unprecedented successive domestic treble with victory over Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.
There was no such drama at Rugby Park, where Lee Erwin’s early strike was enough to give Kilmarnock a 1-0 winning over a Hearts team featuring eight teenagers. – PA
