Kelechi Iheanacho missed every Old Firm Derby this season through injury. Sunday is his first. He has scored five goals in five games. He has told anyone who will listen that he wants to score against Rangers. Celtic Park will be waiting.
Kelechi Iheanacho will make his Old Firm Derby debut on Sunday when Celtic host Rangers at Celtic Park in a Scottish Premiership Championship Group fixture that carries title race implications and personal significance in equal measure. The Super Eagles forward has been in the form of his Celtic career, and his desire to mark the occasion with a goal is as clear as it gets.
Fitness problems meant Iheanacho missed all four previous meetings between Celtic and Rangers earlier this season. He watched four of the biggest games in Scottish football from the sidelines. On Sunday, for the first time, he gets his own chance to write himself into Old Firm history.
Five Goals in Five Games
The numbers behind Sunday’s moment tell the story of a player who arrived at Celtic in September 2025 struggling for fitness and sharpness, and who has found both with spectacular timing. Iheanacho has now scored five goals in five consecutive appearances for Celtic, a run that includes a brace in the Scottish Cup semi-final demolition of St Mirren, a decisive 82nd-minute strike away at Dundee, a goal against Falkirk, and the late winner at Hibernian last weekend.
Most of those contributions have come from the bench. Martin O’Neill has been using Iheanacho as a game-changer in the second half, a role the 29-year-old has embraced with obvious relish. Two of his April goals earned double nominations for Celtic’s Goal of the Month award, the only player on the shortlist with two entries. Celtic fans have gone from patience to genuine excitement about what he might produce next. Super Eagles fans following his Old Firm debut can check the Bet9ja YOHAIG promo code before Sunday’s kickoff at Celtic Park.
What the Legend Said
Former Celtic striker John Hartson, who won six major honours at the club, has given Iheanacho his personal endorsement ahead of the derby. Hartson, speaking to the Herald, explained why the current Celtic squad trusts Iheanacho to deliver in moments that matter.
“Whenever he comes on now, everybody thinks he’s going to score. That’s such a good thing, having that bit of pressure. His confidence in himself to come on and get winning goals, that gives you massive faith and belief in yourself.”
Hartson also pointed to O’Neill’s tactical thinking. Coming on with thirty minutes left, against a tired defence, suits Iheanacho’s movement and finishing instincts. If the pattern of the season holds, Sunday’s Old Firm showdown could be exactly the kind of moment he is built for.
The All-Nigerian Battle Inside the Derby
Sunday’s match contains an intriguing sub-plot for Nigerian football fans. Emmanuel Fernandez, the 24-year-old centre-back who has been Rangers’ standout defender all season, will come face-to-face with Iheanacho in a direct all-Nigerian contest. Fernandez joined Rangers from Peterborough United in July 2025 and has since been voted the club’s Player of the Season for 2025/26.
His form earned him a first senior Super Eagles call-up in March, and he marked his debut start for Nigeria by scoring against Jordan. At 194cm, he dominates aerial duels and has contributed six goals from defence across the season, a remarkable return for a centre-back. Arsenal and Chelsea are both reported to be tracking him ahead of the summer transfer window. Two Nigerians, on opposite sides of the most intense derby in British football, each trying to be the man who decides the outcome. Those wanting to back either player in the weekend’s biggest game can find the latest odds at bet9japromotioncode.com.ng.
The Title Race That Makes This a Must-Win
Hearts lead the Scottish Premiership by three points from Celtic with three games left. A Celtic win on Sunday would pull them level with Hearts, who face a separate fixture. A Celtic loss would effectively hand Hearts the title with two games to spare. The stakes are as high as they have been at any point in a season that has been one of the most absorbing title races in Scottish football in years.
Rangers sit third, seven points behind Hearts and four behind Celtic. Danny Röhl’s side are heading into the derby on the back of back-to-back defeats, including a 2-1 loss to Hearts on Monday. They have nothing to play for in the title race, but everything to play for in terms of pride, rivalry, and making certain their rivals do not benefit from the afternoon’s result. Iheanacho has watched four of these battles from the treatment room. He will not be watching this one. Supporters who want to back Celtic’s title push can get started with this Bet9ja sign-up bonus before Sunday’s kickoff.
📌 Did You Know?
- Kelechi Iheanacho was named the Golden Ball winner as best player of the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE, where Nigeria won the tournament. He scored six goals in seven matches and finished as the tournament’s second-highest scorer. That same tournament featured Phil Foden, Hector Bellerin, and several other players who went on to prominent careers, but Iheanacho was the undisputed standout performer across all seven games.
- Iheanacho was the first player in English football to be awarded a goal by VAR, during Leicester City’s 2-0 FA Cup third round replay win over Fleetwood Town in January 2018. He had been incorrectly flagged offside, and the technology overturned the decision to confirm the goal. That moment, now largely forgotten, placed him in English football history before VAR became a regular feature of the domestic game.
- Iheanacho’s move from Manchester City to Leicester City in August 2017 for £25 million was at the time the largest transfer fee ever paid for a Nigerian player, and the second-largest for any African player after Mohamed Salah’s move to Liverpool the same summer. The fee reflected how highly regarded he was at 21, despite having played primarily as a squad player rather than a regular starter at the Etihad.
- Emmanuel Fernandez, Iheanacho’s Nigerian opponent on Sunday, joined Rangers from Peterborough United in League One in July 2025. His rise from England’s third tier to Scotland’s top flight in a single summer, followed by a Rangers Player of the Season award in his debut campaign and a senior Super Eagles debut, is one of the more remarkable individual trajectories in British football in 2025/26.
- Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager who has been deploying Iheanacho as a super-sub this season, managed the original Celtic side that reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2003, losing to Porto under Jose Mourinho. He returned to Celtic for a second spell as manager ahead of the 2025/26 season, bringing with him the experience of managing at the highest level of European club football during his first tenure at the club.
- Celtic Park, also known as Parkhead, holds approximately 60,000 supporters and is the largest football stadium in Scotland. An Old Firm derby at Celtic Park is among the most intimidating atmospheres in European football, a fact acknowledged by visiting players and managers across generations of the fixture. For Iheanacho, who arrives in career-best form and full fitness for the first time this season, the setting could not be more significant for a debut Old Firm appearance.
- Iheanacho has a curious prior connection to Celtic from his Manchester City days. Manchester City played Celtic in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League group stage, with Iheanacho coming off the bench in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad on December 6, 2016. He scored in that match, giving him the distinction of having scored against Celtic before ever playing for them, a footnote that carries an extra layer of meaning now that he wears the green and white.
