SPL Round-Up: Matchday 19

Here is a round-up of all the action from matchday 19 of the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League.

Falkirk 0-3 Celtic

Celtic restored their lead at the SPL summit after they won 3-0 over ninth-placed Falkirk.

Greek striker Georgios Samaras opened the scoring three minutes into the second-half, as he headed Scott McDonald's cross past Bairn's keeper Robert Olejnik.

In the 90th minute, Koki Mizuno, making his first start for Celtic, took a pass from fellow Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura to slot past Olejnik and cap a fine performance.

In the third-minute of injury-time, from a suspiciously offside-looking position, McDonald rounded Olejnik before slamming in a third.

Hamilton 2-0 Motherwell

James McCarthy was the hero for Hamilton, as he scored both goals to give the home side a much needed win and lift them level on points with Motherwell.

Highly-rated teenager McCarthy broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, when he raced onto Simon Mensing's headed pass to slot the ball past Motherwell keeper Graeme Smith.

McCarthy then doubled the lead on 67 minutes, when he capitalised on a mistake by defender Mark Reynolds to poke the ball under Smith.

The defeat means Motherwell have failed to win any of their last six SPL matches, and increases the pressure on manager Mark McGhee.

Hearts 0-0 Dundee United

Hearts missed the chance to climb up to third in the SPL after being held to a goalless draw by Dundee United at Tynecastle.

Chances were few and far between as both sides cancelled each other out, meaning United maintain their place in third spot.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0-3 Aberdeen

Aberdeen piled the misery on Inverness, stretching Caley Thistle's winless run to six games.

Charlie Mulgrew gave Aberdeen a dream start with the opener after just six minutes, when he flighted a free-kick past Ryan Esson.

Gary McDonald doubled the lead six minutes after the break, and Darren Mackie put the game beyond Inverness with a third goal on 56 minutes.

Kilmarnock 0-1 St Mirren

St Mirren climbed further clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory at Rugby Park.

Andy Dorman scored the only goal of the game on 38 minutes, when he fired past Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe after being teed up by Dennis Wyness.

Rangers 1-0 Hibernian

Kris Boyd proved to be the difference for Rangers, as he scored the only goal of the game to see off a resolute Hibernian side.

After dominating the first half, Rangers finally broke the deadlock on the hour mark, when Boyd's acrobatic overhead kick flew past Hibs keeper Yves Ma-Kalambay and into the bottom corner.