Celtic v Hearts LIVE: Latest updates from Scottish Premiership title decider
- Celtic host Hearts with Scottish Premiership title on the line | Kick-off 12:30pm
- Hearts take one-point lead into final day and will win title if they avoid defeat
- Hearts bidding to win first title since 1960 and end 41 years of Old Firm dominance
- Celtic will remain champions if they beat Hearts at Celtic Park
- Preview: Hearts enter 'lion's den' and epic Celtic showdown with title on line
Lawrence Shankland: 'We go there confident. It's a 90-minute cup final'
08:38 , Jamie BraidwoodLawrence Shankland can become the first Hearts captain to lift the league title in 66 years and the Scotland striker says his team will head to Celtic Park confident after leading the league for most of the season.
"We were fully prepared for going to Celtic Park needing a result. We've been there and won a couple of times during my time as a Hearts player. We go there confident and we've been top of the league all season.
"It's a 90-minute cup final, it's as simple as that. If you offered us that at the start of the season we would have taken it all day. It's going to be two teams looking to go for it and going for a title and it'll be exciting for everyone."
Derek McInnes moves on from Celtic penalty controversy
08:21 , Jamie BraidwoodDerek McInnes is intent on parking the controversy around refereeing decisions for another day as he challenged his “special” Hearts team to “rip up the script” by becoming champions of Scotland for the first time since 1960.
The Jambos will win the Premiership title if they avoid defeat at second-placed Celtic, who were handed a lifeline on Wednesday when they defeated Motherwell with a contentiously awarded stoppage-time spot-kick.
McInnes branded the decision “disgusting” after his side’s victory over Falkirk on the same night, but said on Friday, on the eve of his club’s biggest ever match, that he did not want to get bogged down in talk about referees.
“It’s a perfect ending to a season for the league, for Scottish football, for drama and excitement,” said McInnes ahead of Scotland’s first final-day title shootout since 1991. “It’s pure box office.
“I felt for a while it would go the full way, and we’ve been preparing for that. We knew we’d have to get good wins, and obviously Celtic in the last wee while have shown improvements. Fair play to them and to our boys for making this the situation.”
PA
Gary Lineker says Celtic penalty call arguably ‘worst VAR decision’ he has seen
08:02 , Jamie BraidwoodFormer England striker Gary Lineker believes the “extraordinary” call to award Celtic a dubious added-time penalty against Motherwell is arguably the worst VAR decision he has witnessed.
In a potentially pivotal moment in the Scottish Premiership title race, referee John Beaton was called to the pitchside monitor by video assistant referee Andrew Dallas after Motherwell winger Sam Nicholson challenged for a high ball.
Replays suggested the ball hit Nicholson’s head, rather than his raised hand, but Beaton awarded a spot-kick which Kelechi Iheanacho converted in the ninth minute of added time to snatch a 3-2 success for Martin O’Neill’s side.
Lineker posted on X: “This might be the worst VAR decision I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition). Extraordinary given the significance.”
Ally McCoist wants VAR scrapped and says Scottish football ‘a laughing stock’
07:45 , Jamie BraidwoodFormer Rangers manager Ally McCoist claims Scottish football must get rid of VAR or continue looking like “absolute clowns”.
Scottish football’s refereeing standards have come into sharp focus after the penalty award that made Celtic favourites for the title.
McCoist called it a “horrendous decision that has, once again, embarrassed Scottish football”.
The former Scotland international added on talkSPORT: “If anything good has come out of it, it was that awful a decision that the whole country is talking about it.
“We must get rid of VAR, particularly in Scotland. Because instead of helping officials, it’s making us look like absolute clowns. We are a laughing stock.”
Ally McCoist wants VAR scrapped and says Scottish football ‘a laughing stock’
Derek McInnes labels controversial penalty ‘disgusting’ after Celtic win
07:28 , Jamie BraidwoodHearts 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
07:10 , Jamie BraidwoodHearts 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.
In an increasingly controversial title race, Hearts now know what they’re up against
What is the Hearts team news?
06:53 , Jamie BraidwoodDerek McInnes is without Craig Halkett and Marc Leonard after both suffered Achilles injuries against Motherwell. Harry Milne and Cammy Devlin returned in the win over Falkirk but both were withdrawn before full-time as McInnes attempted to manage their minutes after injury lay-offs of their own. The leaders do not appear to have picked up any fresh fitness issues in the win over Falkirk.
What is the Celtic team news?
06:45 , Jamie BraidwoodMartin O’Neill appears to have settled on a favoured formula, with the choice between Sebastian Tounekti and Luke McCowan on the wing the only change the Celtic boss has made between the recent wins over Rangers and Motherwell. Daizen Maeda continued his scoring run at Motherwell while Kelechi Iheanacho produced another big moment from the bench, Celtic able to call upon the impact sub if required.
When is Celtic v Hearts and how to watch
06:40 , Jamie BraidwoodKick-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.
Celtic v Hearts: What both teams need, and what's on the line
06:35 , Jamie BraidwoodHearts: Will win the league if they avoid defeat at Celtic Park. It would be their first league title since 1960, 66 years ago, and would break the most dominant duopoly in European football. For the past 41 years, the Scottish title has only been won by Celtic or Rangers.
Celtic: Will win the league if they beat Hearts. It would be a 14th league title in 15 years for Celtic since 2012, and would complete the most stunning comeback under Martin O’Neill, the 74-year-old manager who could win a fourth league title in Scotland, 22 years since his last.
Good morning and welcome
06:30 , Jamie BraidwoodSo 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.
