Celtic v Hearts LIVE: Scottish Premiership title goes down to final day with history on the line | OneFootball

The Scottish Premiership title race will come down to a meeting of the top two on the final day of the season (Reuters)

Derek McInnes labels controversial penalty ‘disgusting’ after Celtic win

Hearts boss Derek McInnes described the controversial last-minute penalty awarded to Celtic to take the Scottish Premiership title race down to the final day as “disgusting”.

Hearts, bidding to win a first league title since 1960, were on course to take a three-point advantage and a superior goal difference to Celtic Park for a final day shoot-out after beating Falkirk 3-0.

Celtic, though, kept the title in their hands as Kelechi Iheanacho’s 99th-minute penalty secured a 3-2 win at Motherwell, but in highly dubious circumstances as Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson was ruled to have handled.

Nicholson, though, appeared to have headed the ball away and it left McInnes feeling it was “us against everybody” in the title race. “It’s such a bad decision,” McInnes said. “It is quite disgusting, to be honest.”

Hearts take one-point lead into final day after huge night of controversy

Hearts could have won the league on Wednesday if they beat Falkirk at Tynecastle and Celtic lost at Motherwell. And for a 12-minute spell, those results were happening, leaving Hearts on course for the title.

That was just the start of the drama, though. After Hearts beat Falkirk 3-0, they learned that Celtic had been awarded a 96th-minute penalty at Motherwell, which was converted by Kelechi Iheanacho to seal a 3-2 win.

Hearts could have afforded to lose at Celtic Park by two goals had the reigning champions been held to a draw by Motherwell. Instead, a hugely contentious moment, swung the race back towards Celtic: a win over Hearts today, by another margin, will be enough.

Jamie Braidwood16 May 2026 07:10

When is Celtic v Hearts and how to watch

Kick-off is at 12:30pm at Celtic Park, Glasgow. It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football, with coverage getting underway from 11:30pm.

Jamie Braidwood16 May 2026 06:40

Good morning and welcome

So it all comes down to this. After 37 games of the season, the Scottish Premiership will be decided by a final-day shootout between the top two, Hearts and Celtic. History is on the line, and it doesn’t get bigger than this. Stay with us for all the build-up between now and kick-off at 12:30pm.

Jamie Braidwood16 May 2026 06:30