Celtic Set Up Title Showdown With Hearts After Dramatic Win Away At Motherwell

Celtic’s best opportunity of the opening half-hour fell to Daizen Maeda after an incisive through ball from Seb Tounekti, but the Japanese forward dragged his effort wide.

Maeda would make amends ten minutes later in emphatic fashion.

Yang’s perfectly weighted pass split the Motherwell defence, and Maeda raced onto it before driving a composed finish beyond Calum Ward, the ball crashing in off the post to restore parity.

Motherwell began the second half brightly and continued to push forward with confidence, but Celtic suddenly found the cutting edge they had lacked for much of the afternoon.

In the 58th minute, Benjamin Nygren produced a stunning strike to turn the game on its head and give the visitors the lead. The Swede’s contribution this season continues to divide opinion among sections of the Celtic support, but his importance to Martin O’Neill’s side is impossible to ignore. Once again, he delivered when it mattered most.

A flurry of substitutions from both managers during the final twenty minutes disrupted the rhythm of the game, but the drama was far from over.

Elliot Watt came agonisingly close to equalising in the 80th minute when he smashed an effort against the crossbar before Tawanda Maswanhise saw the rebound brilliantly saved by Sinisalo.

Moments later, Elijah Just forced another excellent stop from the Celtic goalkeeper as the visitors retreated deeper and deeper, inviting sustained Motherwell pressure.

The equaliser finally arrived when Celtic failed to clear their lines from another dangerous delivery, allowing centre-back Liam Gordon to pounce from close range and spark wild celebrations inside Fir Park.

At that stage, the momentum appeared firmly with Motherwell, while Celtic looked physically and mentally exhausted. Neither side seemed likely to find a winner in the closing stages until the game descended into one final moment of controversy.

Deep into stoppage time, referee John Beaton pointed to the spot after Sam Nicholson was adjudged to have handled the ball while attempting to head clear inside the box. The ball appeared to strike Nicholson’s raised hand directly in front of his face, but after a brief pause, the penalty stood.

Kelechi Iheanacho showed no hesitation.

The Nigerian calmly dispatched the spot-kick beyond Ward in the 95th minute, sparking delirium in the away end and triggering a pitch invasion as Celtic celebrated a victory that could yet define their season.

Football, bloody hell.

Now it all comes down to Saturday. Hearts travel to Celtic Park with the Scottish Premiership title on the line in what promises to be a dramatic conclusion to one of the most chaotic and topsy-turvy campaigns in modern Scottish football history.

Motherwell: Ward; Sparrow, O’Donnell, Koutroumbis (Gordon 81), Longelo; Fadinger, Watt, Slattery (Charles-Cook 68); Just (Hendry 88), Said (Nicholson 81), Maswanhise (Priestman 88)

Substitutes: Connelly, Nicholson, Ross, Booth, Thomson

Celtic: Sinisalo; Johnston (Ralston 70), Trusty, Scales, Tierney (Saracchi 78); McGregor, Engels, Nygren (Hatate 70); Yang (Forrest 78), Tounekti (Iheanacho 70), Maeda