Celtic deny Hearts historic Scottish Premiership title with dramatic victory in decider

Celtic recorded a dramatic late 3-1 win to deny Hearts an historic Scottish Premiership title on Saturday.

Hearts had been on course to win the league for the first time since 1960 and end 41 years of Celtic and Rangers dominance in Scottish football before Daizen Maeda’s 88th-minute goal put Martin O’Neill’s side 2-1 ahead.

As Hearts pushed for an equaliser in the final stages, Celtic broke away and Callum Osmand rolled the ball into an empty net to secure a 3-1 win and a fifth successive Scottish Premiership title for the Glasgow side, triggering a pitch invasion from the home fans at Celtic Park.

Celtic’s controversial 3-2 win against Motherwell on Wednesday ensured the title would be decided on the final day, with Hearts travelling to Celtic Park needing to avoid defeat in order to win the league for the first time in 66 years.

And in a tense match in Glasglow, Celtic found came from behind to clinch a narrow victory.

Hearts opened the scoring on 43 minutes as captain Lawrence Shankland raced in at the back post to head Stephen Kingley’s free-kick into the net for his 20th goal of the season in all competitions.

Celtic equalised just five minutes later as Kieran Tierney’s cross was stopped by the arm of Alexandros Kyziridis. The resulting penalty was converted by Arne Engels, despite Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow diving the right way.

The hosts had a series of chances towards the end of the match, with Arne Engels flashing a free-kick just wide, before Kelechi Iheanacho hit the post with a low effort from just outside the box.

But they found the lead with just two minutes left of the 90. Osmand was played in behind, and he squared to Maeda to send Celtic Park into raptures. The goal was initially flagged offside, but the decision overturned following a VAR check. Osmand added a decisive third with the final kick of the game in the 98th minute.

Hearts led the Scottish Premiership since September, capitalising on Celtic and Rangers' slow starts to the season. Both Old Firm sides recovered to mount a title challenge, but Rangers fell away following four successive defeats in the championship group, leaving Celtic and Hearts as the two contenders.

Celtic endured a turbulent start to the season as manager Brendan Rodgers resigned in October, and was described as “misleading” and having helped create a “toxic atmosphere" by the club's largest individual shareholder Dermot Desmond.

O'Neill, former Celtic manager of five years between 2000 and 2005, led Celtic to seven wins from eight matches in interim charge before Wilfried Nancy took over in December.

The Frenchman's tenure lasted just 33 days, with six defeats in his eight matches, and O'Neill returned until the end of the season, helping Celtic to an improved 2026 which saw them return to title contention. With five wins from five in the championship group, Celtic finished on 82 points, two above second-placed Hearts.

Ugly end to a landmark occasion

Analysis by Michael Walker

This will be remembered as the most dramatic Scottish season in two generations due to Hearts’ unforeseen and inspiring challenge for a first league title since 1960. Hearts would have been the first non-Glasgow champions since 1985. It will unfortunately now also be recalled for an ugly pitch invasion after Celtic’s third goal in the eighth minute of added time.

With four minutes of the season left, drawing 1-1, Hearts were almost there. But then Daizen Maeda scored a Celtic second and a VAR review confirmed the goal.

With Hearts forced to throw everyone into attack, Celtic’s breakaway third sparked thousands into running onto the pitch where some confronted Hearts’ players. There was jubilation but also aggression. Hearts’ captain Lawrence Shankland was a target but all the Hearts players were still on the pitch as stewards struggled to clear them.

If there was a final whistle, it went unheard. It quickly became clear the contest was over and Hearts players and staff left the pitch and dugout as Celtic celebrated amid the chaos. Shortly after, the Hearts team bus was escorted away from the stadium with the players on it unchanged. There were no post-match interviews from the Edinburgh club.

There is sure to be an inquiry into scenes that will leave a sour taste across Scotland, though not at Celtic Park. They were presented with a fifth league trophy in a row. Under Martin O'Neill's assured leadership, Celtic won the last seven games to clinch it, but such details are likely to be lost in the forthcoming debate about the pitch invasion.

What history were Hearts trying to make?

Analysis by Jordan Campbell

Since Alex Ferguson retained the title with Aberdeen in 1984-85 — the last time a non-Old Firm team were champions — Scottish football has become increasingly uncompetitive.

As the financial power of the league was left behind by the commercialisation of the English Premier League after it was founded in 1992, the gulf in budget between Scotland’s top two — Rangers and Celtic — and the rest has dramatically diverged.

Between 1975 and 1995, the Glasgow sides only finished first and second in four separate seasons. Dundee United and Aberdeen both topped the table in that time, with Hearts and Motherwell placing second. Only in 2006, and then again in 2017 and 2018 — two seasons when Rangers were rebuilding from four years in the lower divisions as a result of a financial crisis — has a team managed to break up the two teams from Glasgow when they were both in the top flight.

This sort of polarisation has afflicted many domestic European leagues, but Scotland may be the most extreme example.

The wage budgets of both Celtic and Rangers — who spent over £40million on transfer fees, let alone wages, since the 49ers Enterprises takeover last year — are between four and five times as large as that of Hearts. Upsets can happen in individual games. Knockout competitions can help inspire David to beat Goliath. Doing so often enough to matter over a 38-match league campaign is another matter.

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