Celtic crowned 2007-08 Scottish Premier League champion

But in the end, Celtic's win didn't matter as Rangers lost 2-0 at Aberdeen.

Celtic secured its third straight league title and 42nd overall when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed in a corner from Paul Hartley in the 72nd minute.

Gordon Strachan is only the third Celtic manager to win three league titles in a row, joining Willie Maley and Jock Stein.

“I'm with a bunch of guys who believed in me and I believed in them,” Strachan said.

“I really do believe this is one the most satisfying nights of my life -- not for me really but to see the players who have come under a lot of pressure during the season.”

Celtic endured an emotional week, with the death of popular coach Tommy Burns from skin cancer on May 15 at the age of 51 and his funeral on Tuesday.

The club said it would dedicate the league win to Burns, who was also part of the Scotland coaching setup.

“We loved him,” Celtic striker Scott McDonald said. “He was just a gentleman at heart. God rest his soul. We did this for you Tommy -- God bless.”

McDonald denied Celtic the league title in 2005 when his two late goals for former club Motherwell against Celtic handed the trophy to Rangers, which has 51 Scottish titles.

“After three years ago, it's great to put that right and I'm certainly going to enjoy this,” McDonald said.

Rangers lost to Aberdeen goals in the 63rd minute from Lee Miller and from Darren Mackie in the 77th. The Gers finished with 10 men when striker Nacho Novo was sent off for a foul on Stuart Duff.

It was its third match in six days, and Rangers manager Walter Smith blamed the Scottish Premier League for not helping the club by not extending the season further than four days.

“Overall, a failure to balance a set of circumstances which were unusual for a team to have to deal with has led to us falling down as much as anything else,” Smith said.

Last week, Rangers was in contention for an unprecedented four trophies, including the league title.

But after losing to Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 in the final of the UEFA Cup last Wednesday and conceding the league title to Celtic, Rangers can clinch only the cup double.

Rangers plays Queen of the South on Saturday in the Scottish Cup final, bidding to add to the Scottish League Cup won last month.

“We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Rangers defender Christian Dailly said.

The win capped a remarkable comeback for Celtic, which clawed itself back into league contention while Rangers was backlogged with league matches postponed because of its cup runs.

Rangers has little time off -- its preseason starts on June 23 in preparation for Champions League qualifying in late July.