Celtic crowned – Daizen Maeda’s 87th-minute winner and Callum Osmand’s late empty-net finish sent Celtic to a 3-1 win over Hearts on Saturday, sealing a fifth straight Scottish Premiership title and denying Hearts the point they needed for their first championship since 1960.
Hearts walked into Celtic Park with the title within reach. knowing a draw would make them champions for the first time since 1960.. Instead. two strikes late in the game turned what looked like a controlled run to the finish into a night of heartbreak as Celtic sealed the Scottish Premiership crown with a 3-1 win.
Daizen Maeda scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute. sending Celtic on course for the victory required to lift the trophy once again.. The tension didn’t end there.. After Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow went upfield in search of an equalizer during stoppage time. Celtic broke and Callum Osmand swept the ball into an empty net in the eighth minute of added time to put the result beyond doubt.
Hearts had started the evening brighter, with Lawrence Shankland heading home in the first half to put them ahead.. Arne Engels responded for Celtic by leveling the score from the penalty spot in first-half added time. and for a while it looked as though Hearts might still ride that momentum into the point they needed.
Then came the moment Celtic swung it.. Maeda’s goal at the home end was initially ruled out for offside. but after a VAR review it was allowed to stand.. As Hearts pushed forward. Schwolow’s decision to go upfield in the late stages left space for Celtic’s counterattack that ended with Osmand’s finish.
Hearts had entered the match one point ahead of second-place Celtic, with a draw carrying the weight of an historic milestone. It would have been the first time a team other than Celtic and Rangers won the Scottish title since Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen lifted the trophy in 1985.
The late sequence became the deciding factor in the tight standings.. Hearts held a one-point advantage going in. and they stayed alive as the game neared the end of regulation time until Maeda’s initially disallowed-then-validated goal shifted the moment decisively; Osmand’s empty-net finish arrived right after Schwolow went forward for a late set piece.
Celtic’s title is their 56th league championship, a new Scottish soccer record that saw them overtake Glasgow rivals Rangers. The triumph also capped a chaotic campaign marked by coaching changes, with two managers coming and going in the form of Brendan Rodgers and Wilfried Nancy.
Amid all that turnover, Martin O’Neill—an enduring club icon—was twice appointed as interim manager. At 74, it became his fourth league title with the club, 22 years after his previous one.
Celtic Hearts Scottish Premiership Daizen Maeda Callum Osmand Alexander Schwolow Lawrence Shankland Arne Engels VAR Celtic Park