May 23, 2008

SOCCEROOS striker Scott McDonald welcomed making amends as he celebrated winning the Scottish Premier League title with Celtic today.

Dutchman Jan Vennegoor scored the only goal as Celtic won 1-0 away to Dundee United, ensuring they finished three points ahead of Glasgow rivals Rangers who lost 2-0 at Aberdeen.

Both Celtic and Rangers had started their matches level on 86 points, although Celtic had a goal advantage of four.

McDonald famously deprived Celtic of the SPL title three years ago by scoring twice for Motherwell to defeat the Hoops on the final day of the season and hand Rangers the championship.

This time round he was delighted to have played a big part in helping Celtic win the title, finishing topscorer in the league with 27 goals.

"After scoring those goals in 2005 it's great to finally put that right and it makes it even more special for me,'' said McDonald.

The Aussie striker also paid tribute to Tommy Burns, the former Celtic player, manager and first team coach who had lost his battle with cancer the previous week.

"Everyone at the club loved Tommy. He was an absolute gentleman, god rest his soul,'' said McDonald. "We did it for you Tommy, God bless.''

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan became the first Celtic manager since the legendary Jock Stein to win three successive Scottish League titles.

"I would just like to say this has been one of the most fantastic occasions of my life with a bunch of guys who believed in me and I believed in them,'' said Strachan. "We had a challenge we accepted it and got on with without complaining.

"I really do believe this is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, not for me but for the players who have come under a lot of pressure over the season.''

There was only misery for Rangers after their season, which once promised so much, continued to unravel. The previous week the Ibrox side had still been on target for an historic quadruple before they lost the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg.

Now they will aim to beat First Division side Queen of the South in Saturday's Scottish Cup Final to complete the domestic cup double - after they won the League Cup in March. The title race made for a tense final day.

In the 63rd minute Aberdeen took a shock lead against Rangers when Barry Nicholson's free-kick was headed home by Lee Miller from eight-yards.

The destination of the title was now firmly in Celtic's hands and they took an even stronger grip in the 72nd minute when the took the lead.

Paul Hartley's inswinging corner was met by Vennegoor of Hesselink leapt highest to power a header beyond United's Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska.

The championship was over when Aberdeen scored their second goal in the 77th minute when Darren Mackie drove the ball past Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander from close range.

Rangers' misery continued shortly after when Nacho Novo was sent-off for a horrific tackle on on Stuart Duff. The Spaniard will now miss the Scottish Cup final on Saturday against Queen of the South.