Celtic rise to the occasion and break Hearts to retain the title

Celtic rise to the occasion and break Hearts to retain the title Scottish Premiership Saturday, May 16, 2026 Celtic Park CELTIC…3 (Engels 45 +4, Maeda 87, Osmand 90 +8) HEARTS…1 (Shankland 43) After a rollercoaster of a season, the most dramatic in recent memory, Celtic are the champions of Scotland for the 56th time after a 3-1 win over Hearts at Celtic Park, with goals from Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand securing victory for the Hoops. The Tynecastle side only had to avoid defeat today to ensure that the title went Edinburgh but, just like in 1986, they came unstuck on the final day whilst the Hoops rose to the occasion and sealed five-in-a-row with two late strikes to break Hearts. The opening 10 minutes were played with the sort of frantic energy that was to be expected of a match with so much at stake, and the vast Celtic support inside Paradise, who created an electric atmosphere from the first whistle, were buoyed by two corners to the Hoops in the opening stages which the visitors from Edinburgh had to deal with.

There were three stoppages in play within the first 25 minutes of the game, with three different Hearts players going down and requiring treatment which meant that there was no real rhythm or flow to the play, though Celtic were trying to play forward and pass their way through. That approach almost paid dividends when Benjamin Nygren attempted to slip a pass through to Daizen Maeda in the box, but there was too much weight on the ball and it evaded the Japanese forward. With just over half an hour played, Celtic mounted a dangerous attack, with Callum McGregor winning the ball in the midfield and Arne Engels finding Sebastian Tounekti with a good pass, though the Tunisian’s shot proved to be an easy take for the Hearts keeper.

With less than five minutes to go before half-time, Hearts took the lead. The Tynecastle side have been dangerous from corner-kicks all seasons, and it was from a corner, delivered by Stephen Kingsley, that Lawrence Shankland made it 1-0 with a header at the back post. Then, in the first minute of time added on at the end of the first half, the Hoops were handed a lifeline when a ball in to the box from Kieran Tierney was handled by Alexandros Kyziridis, resulting in Don Robertson pointing to the spot.

After some theatrics from Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, Arne Engels stepped up and battered the ball in to the bottom corner, levelling the game at 1-1 and setting up a massive 45 minutes in the second half. Martin O’Neill made his first change of the afternoon at half-time, bringing Sebastian Tounekti off for Kelechi Iheanacho. There was a nervy moment early in to the second half for Celtic when Auston Trusty gave the ball away in the middle of the park, allowing Pierre Landry Kabore a chance to run through on goal, but Vil Sinisalo was quick off of his line and was able to reach the ball first and clear the danger.