Jubilant Celtic clinch third straight title

Celtic won their third ScottishPremier League title in a row after a 1-0 win at Dundee United last night thanks to a header by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. The victory left Celtic three points clear of arch-rivals Rangers, who were left distraught after...

Celtic won their third ScottishPremier League title in a row after a 1-0 win at Dundee United last night thanks to a header by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The victory left Celtic three points clear of arch-rivals Rangers, who were left distraught after losing 2-0 at Aberdeen where their substitute Nacho Novo was sent off.

Gordon Strachan became the first Celtic manager since JockStein in 1974 to scoop three successive championships after histeam finished on 89 points from 38 games with Rangers on 86.

Dutch striker Vennegoor of Hesselink headed home from close range after 71 minutes from Paul Hartley's inviting corner to secure all three points for champions Celtic.

Rangers slumped to defeat after Lee Miller headed Aberdeen in front after 63 minutes and Darren Mackie flicked home a killer second goal 13 minutes later from six metres.

Rangers' misery was compounded when Spanish striker Nacho Novo was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on Stewart Duffin in the 79th minute that rules him out of tomorrow's Scottish FA Cup final with second division Queen of the South.

Previous winners: 1999 - Rangers; 2000 - Rangers; 2001 - Celtic; 2002 - Celtic; 2003 - Rangers; 2004 - Celtic; 2005 - Rangers; 2006 - Celtic; 2007 -  Celtic; 2008 - Celtic.

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