Derby day delight for Celtic at Paradise | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSunday, May 10, 2026Celtic Park

CELTIC…3(Yang 23, Maeda 53 & 57)

RANGERS…1(Moore 9)

 Celtic defeated Rangers 3-1 at Celtic Park this afternoon, with goals from Yang and Daizen Maeda securing a massive three points for the Hoops.

The atmosphere inside Celtic Park was at fever pitch by the time the first whistle went, and the Hoops responded with a quick start, with Daizen Maeda’s relentless energy causing problems for the visitors early on.

Maeda’s pressing produced a shooting opportunity for Arne Engels, who forced a save from Butland with a shot from distance.

Moments later, the visitors had their first chance of the afternoon, but Chermiti’s strike from the edge of the box drifted wide of the target.

Rangers took the lead in the 10th minute through Mikey Moore who found himself with a chance from close range after Viljami Sinisalo had made a save from a Youssef Chermiti shot.

Celtic came close to an equaliser with just over 15 minutes gone when Yang slipped a good ball through to Daizen Maeda, but the Japanese forward’s effort crept just wide of the post.

The equaliser that Martin O’Neill’s had been searching for was delivered with just shy of 25 minutes gone. A brilliant pass from Luke McCowan found Arne Engels, who cut the ball back towards Yang in the box.

The Korean winger, whose strike against the Ibrox side earlier in the year was voted as Celtic’s goal of the season, made no mistake as he sent his shot beyond Butland to make it 1-1.

With the match level, both sides looked to put the other under pressure, though the visitors created more chances throughout the remainder of the first half.

Celtic, however, did find themselves with a decent opportunity with five minutes of the half remaining when Luke McCowan fed a pass through to Daizen Maeda in the box, but the Rangers defence forced the ball clear.

Martin O’Neill made one change at half time, bringing Sebastian Tounekti on in place of Luke McCowan.

And Celtic went agonisingly close to taking the lead five minutes in to the second half when Benjamin Nygren flashed a ball across the face of the Rangers goal.

Daizen Maeda slid in at the back post attempting to divert the ball in to the net, but he was unable to connect with the ball.

Moments later however, the Japanese foraward put the Hoops 2-1 up with a good finish at the front post following a wonderful first-time cross from Kieran Tierney.

Credit also has to go to Liam Scales, whose initial pass gave Tierney the opportunity to fire a cross in to the box.

Then, less than five minutes later, Celtic Park was treated to one of the finest Glasgow derby goals ever, and, once again, Daizen Maeda was the man to deliver it.

A scuffed clearance from a Rangers defender sat up nicely for Maeda, and where most forwards in that instance may have been inclined to bring the ball under control, Maeda produced an overhead kick, which looped high in to the air and dipped under the cross bar in to the top corner, leaving the Rangers keeper helplessly rooted to his goal line as Celtic went 3-1 ahead.

The quality of the finish was quite simply sensational, and for everyone inside the stadium, it will undoubtedly live long in the memory and will be watched over and over again for years to come.

With 15 minutes to go, Martin O’Neill made his second change of the afternoon, with Benjamin Nygren replaced by Reo Hatate.

The visitors, sensing that any slim hopes they had of challenging for the title were fading by the minute, started to press forward, attempting to create an opportunity to bring themselves back in to the match, but the Celts showed their resilience and battled for every ball to keep their two-goal lead intact.

The final Celtic changes of the afternoon saw Alistair Johnston, Kieran Tierney and Yang replaced by Anthony Ralston, Marcelo Saracchi and Kelechi Iheanacho.

In the third minute of injury time, Bojan Miovski went close to reducing the deficit to just one goal when he got his head to the ball in the box, but his headed effort crashed off of the bar and the rebound was collected by Sinisalo.

The 3-1 derby victory means that Celtic are now just one point behind Hearts with two games remaining, and Martin O’Neill’s men will turn their attentions to Wednesday night’s match against Motherwell at Fir Park.