8 hours ago
18
Celtic are Scottish Premiership champions again!
90+9 mins: Has the final whistle been blown? Does anyone know? Does it matter? The pitch is full of people. And the players are escorted off the pitch and down the tunnel!
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
It looks like the Hearts team bus has already pulled away from Celtic Park.
Sky: Hearts players were assaulted by pitch-invading fans
Sky are saying there have been reports that some Hearts players were assaulted when fans ran onto the pitch at the end.
Matt Guthrie, a Hearts fan in Montana, emails: “We led the table every day of the season except one. We were three minutes away. I cannot imagine how MacInnes, Shankland and the others are feeling right now. But there’s so much bitterness mixed in with the sadness. The nonsense penalty at Fir Park midweek, another cheap penalty today, and then VAR intervening to give Celtic the winner.
”I’m 62 years old. I grew up by Haymarket Station and my childhood on the terraces was the days of Jim Cruikshank and Donald Ford. This hurts really, really badly.”
I don’t think there was any controversy about this result. Celtic’s second was certainly offside, and a positive VAR intervention. The penalty was, as I said at the time, a bit generous to my mind but my issue I think is that it illustrates a flaw in the game, rather than a flaw in the officiating today.
Whether Celtic deserved to win the title this season, whether they should have been in a position to do so with a marginal victory here, is open to debate. But though for much of this game they seemed not to know how to break down an organised Hearts team, in the end they certainly deserved to win today. In the second half both managers tried to bend the game their team’s way, and Martin O’Neill did so.
And Kieran Tierney:
This, this full season has been absolutely mental. From where we were at some points of the season, to today, and the atmosphere. Our captain is unbelievable, he’s kept this changing room together. And I’m buzzing for everyone, but Callum McGregor deserves every bit of this. We never give up, and this is the most mentally strong team I’ve been involved in by far. We had everybody doubting us, and we’re still here today. This is the best thing I’ve ever won, with everything we’ve come through.
Alistair Johnston now:
What in the world was that? It’s the best feeling ever when you realise you’ve got an empty goal. We’ve won a lot of leagues here, but that’s got to be the greatest of all time.
On Martin O’Neill:
He’s a winner. Listen to this place. You’ve just got to build a statue, simple as that.
Callum McGregor, the Celtic captain, has a quick chat.
We knew we’d get a chance. We just keep going and going. Honestly, it’s a special, special group of people.
The referee is still looking interested. I don’t think he thinks the game has been completed. But now he indicates that it is indeed over, and it’s hugs for the hoops!
Celtic are Scottish Premiership champions again!
90+9 mins: Has the final whistle been blown? Does anyone know? Does it matter? The pitch is full of people. And the players are escorted off the pitch and down the tunnel!
GOAL! Celtic 3-1 Hearts (Osmand, 90+8 min)
It’s a poor, poor ball from the free kick. Celtic break and it’s three on none! There’s nobody to stop them, and Osmand runs it to the line before stroking it in!
90+7 mins: Another yellow card, for McGregor this time. A free-kick for Hearts, and the keeper’s coming up for it!
90+6 mins: A booking for Maeda, for kicking the ball away.
90+6 mins: Not a hint of a sniff for Hearts. Rod Stewart is on his feet, grinning and clapping.
90+4 mins: Saracchi and Shankland butt chests on the touchline, and the referee books them both.
90+3 mins: Hearts have had two shots on target but really only one chance. They’ve spent the great majority of the game defending.
90+2 mins: The corner is a bit overhit, and it’s turned behind for a goal-kick.
90+2 mins: The ball goes out for a Hearts throw-in, and Celtic’s ball-boy tries to stop it being taken. When it is, it’s turned behind for a corner.
90+1 mins: There will be at least eight minutes of stoppage time!
90 mins: Dane Murray comes on for Nygren as Celtic look to lock it down.
89 mins: There’s no argument about this decision. Osmand is absolutely onside when he’s played through, as is Maeda when he turns in Osmand’s cross.
GOAL! Celtic 2-1 Hearts (Maeda, 88 mins)
And the on-field decision is overturned! Maeda is offside when the ball is played through, but not when the cross comes in! Celtic lead in the game and lead the table, with 90 seconds and stoppage time to go!
Celtic have the ball in the net, but the flag is up!
87 mins: A cross from the left is turned in by Maeda, but the referee immediately blows his whistle. Over to VAR …
86 mins: The ball is half-cleared to Kingsley on the edge of the area, an excellent shooting chance that he profoundly fluffs.
86 mins: Shankland wins a corner for Hearts, who as much as anything just need to keep the ball down that end for a bit.
85 mins: Schwolow takes his time over a goal kick. “It couldn’t be any more tense, could it?” asks Chris Sutton on commentary.
83 mins: Another offside flag. Deep breath. Some of the passes Hearts are attempting at the moment make it look like they are losing control not just of their nerves but of their limbs.
82 mins: And they go close again! Maeda cuts onto his right foot and shoots. It might have been going in at the far post, but Osmand gets his head to it at the near, diverts it wide, and is offside!
81 mins: 10 minutes and (quite a lot of) stoppage time to go. Celtic must score, and for the first time in the game have started to look like doing so.
80 mins: Save! Excellent play from Celtic to set up Nygren, whose shot should be stopped and is, eyecatchingly and athletically, Schwolow turning over the bar!
Iheanacho hits the post
79 mins: Celtic hit the post! It’s full-on chaos at the moment, and Iheanacho’s side-footed shot from just outside the area just fails to find the net!
79 mins: The goal kick is sent long and breaks for Forrest, whose shot is straight at Sinisalo.
78 mins: Engels shoots, and the ball dips and curls but it goes well wide!
77 mins: Celtic for the first time overwhelm the Hearts defence. They have three unmarked players on the edge of the area and pick out one of them, but Nygren’s shot is intercepted. There’s a foul in the follow-up, though, and Celtic have a great shooting chance from just outside the box.
76 mins: Celtic win another corner, their eighth. Iheanacho does well to keep it in play at the far post and after it bounces around the area a bit Schwolow does well to keep it in play and in his hands.
74 mins: Celtic break and suddenly it’s Osmond against Kent, one on one with nothing but space and goalkeeper behind. It’s Osmond’s first touch after coming on, though, and he takes a heavy one which allows Kent to intervene.
73 mins: Another Celtic move peters out, ending in a goal kick. They’ve had 68% of possession but outwith the penalty have managed just one shot on target. Celtic take off Trusty and Tierney and bring on Osmand and Saracchi. A forward for a defender. It’s that time.
71 mins: The tension! Simon McMahon emails requestiong “more goals, and maybe a full blown donnybrook”, and any or indeed all of those things are very possible.
68 mins: What a run from Chesnokov, down the right wing, past Scales and to the byline, but Trusty gets in the way of his pull-back.
67 mins: It was always only a matter of time before Claudio Braga was brought on, and that time is now. Chesnokov and Alan Forrest – whose brother came on for Celtic not long ago – also come on, Kabore, Kyziridis and Milne going off.
66 mins: Another Tierney cross leads to another Celtic corner. It’s played short, sent in, and Maeda heads over.
64 mins: Hearts just have to find a way to keep the ball a bit longer. Perhaps they’re on the right path in their search for a positive result, but it’s a really tough one.
62 mins: James Forrest comes on for Celtic, replacing Yang Hyun-Jun.
