Kelechi Iheanacho scored a dramatic injury-time winner from the penalty spot against Motherwell to keep Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race. Celtic were awarded a spot-kick by VAR for a handball and Iheanacho stepped up to score with the final kick of the game in the 99th minute and send the jubilant away fans onto the pitch.
It means that the Scottish Premiership title will be decided on the final day of the season. The two sides are separated by just a single point before they meet at Celtic Park on Saturday.
Hearts have been top of the table since September as they pursue a first title in 66 years and the first by any side not named Celtic or Rangers in 41 years. Derek McInnes’ side are aiming to become the first non-Glasgow side since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in 1985 to get over the line and lift the trophy.
They now need a draw or a win against Celtic in Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off after Martin O’Neill’s side scraped past Motherwell on Wednesday night.
Defeat for Celtic and a win for Hearts would have decided it in the penultimate game. But a last-gasp win for Celtic means they will need to beat their title rivals on Saturday to clinch it on the final day.
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Goals from Frankie Kent and Cammy Devlin had Hearts in control, leading 2-0 by half-time against Falkirk. They were heading for the title after Elliot Watt put Motherwell 1-0 up against Celtic, but Daizen Maeda’s equaliser put the celebrations on hold.
Maeda found the bottom corner with a precise finish for 1-1 before Benjamin Nygren smashed into the roof of the net from 20 yards to give the away side the lead at Fir Park. Watt struck the bar for Motherwell before Liam Gordon swept in an equaliser in the 85th minute to give Hearts a huge boost.
Blair Spittal added a third for Hearts to make their result sure and mean that Celtic would have needed to win by three goals on Saturday, as they’ve scored more than Hearts. But then came Iheancho’s penalty to change it all.
That Celtic are even in the title race is remarkable, given the chaos that has dominated this season. O’Neill is back in charge, having initially replaced Brendan Rodgers in October following the Northern Irishman’s bitter exit before making way for the disastrous eight-game spell of Wilfried Nancy.
View 2 ImagesHearts are one game away from a first title in 66 years(Image: WM Sport Media/Getty Images)
O’Neill was re-appointed in January after the wheels came off under Nancy and has led Celtic’s pursuit of Hearts. They now enter the final game of the season knowing they need a victory to secure a 56th title.
It is a scenario for which McInnes has readied himself and his players. “I’ve just assumed Celtic are going to win the game,” the Hearts boss said on Tuesday. “I’ve had it in my head that we’re going to the last game.
“Any of that kind of talk… I understand it. It’s nice to hear ‘Hearts could win the league at Tynecastle’ because I don’t know how many people have been able to say that in their lifetime.
“But the likelihood is, if we’re going to win the league, we’re going to have to win two games or certainly pick up four points from the next two games.”
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