THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLASGOW, Scotland — Rangers beat Dundee United 2-0 and climbed above Celtic to the top of the Scottish Premier League on Saturday.
Celtic’s game against Motherwell was postponed following the death of Motherwell captain Phil O’Donnell during a game last weekend. O’Donnell collapsed while walking off the field and died of heart failure.
The postponement gave Walter Smith’s Rangers the chance to go top with a game in hand, and first half goals by Steven Naismith and Barry Ferguson were enough to beat The Terrors at Ibrox Park.
Rangers has 44 points from 19 games, Celtic 43 from 20 and third-place Motherwell 35 from 20.
Fourth-place Aberdeen was held 0-0 at Falkirk while Hearts, a title contender last season, slipped to next to last after being held 1-1 at home by Kilmarnock.
The Jambos had Calum Elliot sent off for two yellow cards in the 36th minute and Hearts then fell behind to Paul Diagacomo’s goal seconds before halftime. Andrius Velicka salvaged a point for Hearts with a game-tying goal in the 63rd minute.
Despite the loss, Hearts is 11 points ahead of last-place Gretna, which lost 3-0 at Inverness, Marius Niculae scoring twice for the home side.
St. Mirren climbed away from next-to-last by beating Hibernian 2-0 with first half goals by Ian Maxwell and Gary Mason.