Celtic stun Hearts with late show to retain Scottish Premiership title in dramatic decider | OneFootball

Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand secure turnaround in remarkable finish to final-day shootout

Hearts have been denied a fairytale Scottish Premiership title triumph on the final day after Celtic’s late show saw them retain the trophy in a thrilling decider.

Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand both scored at Celtic Park to spark a pitch invasion and complete a remarkable turnaround for 3-1 as the most extraordinary of seasons produced a fittingly dramatic finish.

Hearts had led before half-time in Glasgow thanks to a header from a corner that was powered in by captain Lawrence Shankland, but were quickly pegged back thanks to Arne Engels’ penalty after Kieran Tierney’s cross had hit the hand of Alexandros Kyziridis inside the box.

Thanks to their one-point lead at the start of the day, a draw would have been enough for glory for Hearts, who spent 250 days at the summit this season and were just minutes away from clinching a first top-flight title since 1960 and becoming the first club from outside Scotland’s Old Firm to do so since Aberdeen under Sir Alex Ferguson 41 years ago.

After beating Motherwell 3-2 in midweek thanks to a hugely controversial last-gasp penalty, Celtic knew that an eighth successive win by any scoreline on Saturday would see them snatch a fifth consecutive title and 56th overall to move one clear of arch-rivals Rangers on the all-time list.

They looked likely to fall short despite applying no shortage of second-half pressure in search of that elusive and vital second goal, with substitute Kelechi Iheanacho hitting the post, until Maeda stepped up after 87 minutes to turn in a cross from substitute Osmand, who was back in the matchday squad for the first time since November after recovering from hamstring surgery.

The goal was initially disallowed for offside to temporarily halt the jubilant celebrations, but was then awarded following a quick VAR check.

20-year-old academy graduate Osmand, making just his fourth senior appearance for Celtic, then raced away to tap into an empty net in the eighth minute of a tense period of stoppage time after Hearts had gone for broke and sent up goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow for a free-kick into the box that was quickly cleared.

That led to a pitch invasion seconds before the full-time whistle involving thousands of home fans, with the match not restarting and reports of confrontations with Hearts players, who were escorted down the tunnel and reportedly left the stadium with some still wearing their match kits and without conducting post-match media duties.