EDINBURGH, May 3 (SW) - Hearts secured a spot in the second qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday with a victory over Aberdeen, while Rangers are left to the UEFA Cup despite winning at Hibernian.

TUESDAY

Hibernian - Rangers 1-2

Rangers kept the race for second place interesting on Tuesday, temporarily cutting the gap between themselves and Hearts to one point after a nervy win at Hibernian.

Kris Boyd put the Old Firm side in front in the 36th minute when he slammed home after being put in on goal by Thomas Buffel, but Brahim Hemdani deflected a Derek Riordan free kick into his own net in the 72nd minute to level the match at 1-1.

Boyd, though, quickly responded for Rangers with a nice shot from just inside the area after Dado Prso played him through nicely.

Dundee United - Dunfermline 0-1

The lone goal of the match between two sides at the lower end of the table was ended at Tannadice when the Pars got a winning goal through Freddy Daquin 12 minutes from time.

WEDNESDAY

Hearts - Aberdeen 1-0

Celebrations will go deep into the night at Tynecastle after a Paul Hartley penalty was enough to see Hearts become the first side not named Celtic or Rangers to make it to the top European comeptition in quite a while.

After a scoreless first half left many of the fans in Edinburg on edge, they soon went into jubilation as Zander Diamond's clear handball in the area forced referee Stuart Dougal to point to the spot.

Hearts skipper Hartley then stepped up in the 54th minute and slotted the ball past Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield for a 1-0 lead.

There was constant pressure on the Aberdeen goal and Hearts were fully in control, but they were aided by a professional foul by Scott Severin on 79 minutes, earning him a red card for his foul on Bruno Aguiar.

Hearts then coasted through the remainder of the match and will see Champions League football next season.

Celtic - Kilmarnock 2-0

Coming off of a drubbing at the hands of Hearts, champions Celtic got two quick second-half goals to see them past Kilmarnock at Parkhead.

Poland forward Maciej Zurawski gave Gordon Strachan's side the lead on 55 minutes when converted a cross from Mark Wilson and Stanislav Varga added a second eight minutes later with a header thanks to a ball in by Ross Wallace.

Inverness C.T. - Falkirk 2-0

It was all over before the half-hour, as Inverness grabbed the lead on 18 minutes as Russell Duncan hit a cracking goal from over 30 yards out that beat goalkeeper Mark Howard.

12 minutes later, Caley Thistle secured the win as leading scorer Craig Dargo blasted home off of a corner kick by Alan Morgan.

Livingston - Motherwell 0-1

Relegated Livingston's life got no better on Wednesday as they were beaten at Almondvale by Motherwell.

David Clarkson rose to head a cross by Roddy McKenzie in the 73rd minute and that was all the visitors needed for the win.