The Super Eagles striker came off the bench at Easter Road and needed just two and a half minutes to chest down and finish with his left foot, pulling Celtic level on points with Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Kelechi Iheanacho does not need long. The Nigeria striker entered the pitch in the 70th minute at Easter Road, a game that had been drifting toward a draw Celtic could not afford, and settled it 151 seconds later. His goal gave Celtic a 2-1 win over Hibernian and moved the Hoops level on points with Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts, with three games left to play in the season.
The match had the feel of a banana skin from the moment Hibs’ Jamie McGrath was shown a straight red card in the 21st minute. Playing against ten men, Celtic went in front when Daizen Maeda tapped in from close range in the 41st minute. Then, in first-half stoppage time, Hibernian captain Joe Newell scored an equaliser that provoked immediate controversy, with television replays suggesting the ball struck his arm in the build-up before the goal was allowed to stand.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill cut a frustrated figure at the break. His side had dominated a depleted Hibs team, wasted several clear chances, conceded a goal of questionable legality, and walked into the dressing room level at 1-1. Bettors who anticipated a Celtic victory and want to follow the title run-in can check the Bet9ja sign-up bonus before the next round of fixtures.
Iheanacho Changes Everything
Celtic had played for more than 50 minutes with a numerical advantage and still could not find a winner when O’Neill turned to his bench. Iheanacho replaced Yang Hyun-jun in the 70th minute. Two minutes later, after a corner kick fell to him inside the box, he controlled the ball with his chest and drove it low into the corner with his left foot. The goal was vintage Iheanacho: composed, clinical, and delivered at exactly the moment it was needed most.
It was his seventh goal across all competitions for Celtic this season, and his fourth in five games. That sequence covers wins over Dundee and St Mirren as well, establishing a clear pattern of the 29-year-old arriving off the bench and immediately altering the outcome of matches. O’Neill, speaking to Sky Sports after the full-time whistle, was clear about his relief. “It was a nervy ending to the game but overall, in terms of the chances we created in the first half, it was fine,” the Celtic boss said. He reserved particular praise for Iheanacho as the player who steadied the ship when it wobbled.
Iheanacho himself spoke with the kind of calm that comes from someone who has delivered under pressure many times before. “I’m really pleased. I’m happy to be an impact today in the camp for my teammates and for the club,” he told reporters at Easter Road. “I’m always ready, whether starting or coming on.” New Bet9ja users keen on the Scottish Premiership run-in can get started with the YOHAIG welcome bonus before the weekend fixtures.
A Title Race With Three Games Left
The result leaves Celtic second in the Scottish Premiership table but level on points with Hearts at the top. Hearts have a game in hand, which means the title is not yet Celtic’s to control. The Hoops face Rangers, Motherwell, and Hearts in their remaining three fixtures. The Hearts match, whenever it comes, could decide the championship directly if both clubs are still tied on points.
For Nigerian football fans, the story of Iheanacho at Celtic carries a subplot that tends to get overlooked in the immediate match reaction. He left the Premier League for Scotland at a stage of his career when the path of least resistance was a comfortable contract in a mid-table English club. Instead he chose a title fight, a demanding manager, and a stadium that expects results every week. The gamble is paying off. Celtic fans looking to back their team in the final three games can use the Bet9ja’s current promo code for an enhanced opening bonus before kick-off.
What Comes Next
The visit to Ibrox to face Rangers is Celtic’s most politically charged fixture in any season. Coming at this stage of a title race, with both clubs aware of what is at stake, it takes on an entirely different weight. Iheanacho’s form over the last five games suggests O’Neill will trust him to be a factor in that match, either from the start or from the bench.
Three games, one point margin, and a game in hand to Hearts. Scottish football does not do straightforward endings. But Celtic, with a Nigerian striker scoring winning goals in the last minute of tight matches, are at least heading in the right direction.
📌 Did You Know?
- Iheanacho’s goal came just 151 seconds after he stepped off the substitutes’ bench, making it one of the fastest impact goals by a substitute in the Scottish Premiership this season. Sky Sports Scotland confirmed the timing immediately after the match.
- Jamie McGrath’s red card at Easter Road made him the fourth Hibernian player to be sent off in just three matches. That extraordinary run of indiscipline has badly damaged Hibs’ end-of-season form and contributed to a sharp drop in their Premiership points tally since April.
- Iheanacho joined Celtic on a free transfer after leaving Leicester City in 2023. He had previously spent six years in the Premier League across spells at Manchester City, where he won the league title in 2019, and Leicester, where he was part of the FA Cup-winning squad in 2021.
- Celtic’s title rivals Hearts are managed by Steven Naismith, the former Everton and Rangers midfielder who took over the Jambos in 2023. A final-day showdown between Celtic and Hearts, if the mathematics demand it, would be one of the most anticipated matches in the Scottish Premiership since the Rangers financial crisis era of the early 2010s.
- Daizen Maeda, who scored Celtic’s opener against Hibs, has been one of the most underrated forwards in Scottish football over the last three seasons. The Japanese international has over 40 goals across all competitions for Celtic since arriving from Sporting CP’s loan setup in 2022.
- Easter Road, where Sunday’s match was played, is one of the oldest professional football grounds in the world still in regular use. Hibernian have played there since 1893, making it over 130 years old as a football venue.
- Celtic’s run-in against Rangers at Ibrox is a fixture with enormous historical weight. The last time Celtic visited Ibrox in a title-deciding context, in May 2019, a single point separated the two clubs heading into the final stretch. Celtic won the league that season.
