CELTIC ARE FAVORITES, BUT A GREAT CHALLENGE REMAINS
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- 13 minutes ago
- 6 min read
ACSOM's Liam McBride reflects on an incredible week so far for Celtic, with the biggest challenge still to come.
It truly has been a roller coaster of a season. Whether that be the managerial turmoil that erupted after Brendan Rodgers’ sudden departure or the lengthy injury list that has included Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota and Alistair Johnston (for most of the season), for large parts of the campaign, the prospect of a fifth successive title has never looked further away.
Yet, time after time, this side has found a way to keep the dream alive. Whether it was late wins against Livingston and Kilmarnock, or a last gasp equaliser at Ibrox, or the run of six straight wins after a chastening loss at Tannadice, they responded with resilience and character each time and are now in the box seat for one of the most unlikely doubles.
And if there was ever a game that proved a fitting metaphor for the 2025/26 campaign, it was Wednesday night's duel at Fir Park.
Celtic Showed Two Sides Over Past 2 Games. Which Will Show Up Tomorrow?
After securing a spectacular 3-1 victory against Rangers, Celtic knew a tougher test lay ahead of them.
Motherwell have rightly earned the plaudits for their style of play this season. Sitting fourth place heading into the final matchday, Jens Berthel Askou’s men have employed an appealing brand of football, based on midfield relationships and positional play, which has proved a match for anyone. Facing a Celtic side that has looked disjointed in many away games, there was always a sense of fear around the damage that the Lanarkshire club could inflict.
The early stages did nothing to calm the nerves. The Bhoys were all at sea, being played through with ease and found themselves behind after 16 minutes thanks to Elliot Watt. The Celtic defensive structure lacked any sort of resistance, with Motherwell cutting through at will. Callum McGregor and Benjamin Nygren consistently left gaps, while the back four failed to stay compact and offered little resistance. Trailing by a goal as halftime approached, the state of affairs weren’t pretty. Hearts led Falkirk by two goals and were sitting four points ahead with a first premiership trophy since 1960 looming.
The Celtic players seemed nervous. Neither McGregor, Engels, nor Nygren really got settled in the midfield. Safe sideways passing was plenty but against an organised Motherwell press, the Hoops struggled to play through.
Yet, while the home side conducted more appealing patterns of play and were playing a better brand of football, they often lacked the bit of quality in the final third to make it count. Namely, despite their control, it was Celtic who had created the two best chances. One Sebastian Tounetki inexplicably crossed wide when one-on-one and another Daizen Maeda would strike just past the post.
On the occasions that Celtic successfully played over the press, the space was there. If you have individual quality in forward areas, you can hurt Askou’s men. They’re a well-oiled defensive unit, but if you can exploit a gap, they offer little resistance. After all, the Steelmen had won just one of their last eight league outings.
Soon after his first miss, Maeda was presented with an opportunity in a near-identical position. There often is no rhyme or reason to Maeda’s finishing patterns and this time he expertly dispatched it into the bottom left corner.
The second half began and the game was entirely in the balance. Both sides were creating chances, with the best of all falling to Elijah Just in the 50th minute, only for McGregor to make a crucial block. Eight minutes later, Benjamin Nygren awoke from hibernation to shoot an unsavable shot into the top right corner. The Tommy McLean stand went into a frenzy.
From that moment on, it was a nerve-racking watch. The magnitude of this result wasn’t lost on anyone. Should Celtic hold out, all that was needed was a win at the weekend. A draw would require a 3-0 win, while a loss would deliver the title to Tynecastle.
Opportunities aplenty would arrive. Callum Slattery saw his attempt fly wide, while Maswanhise’s header was gratefully clutched by Viljami Sinsalo.
Like many away games this season, O’Neill’s men were seemingly holding out for a hard fought victory. Yet, with just five minutes to spare, life flashed before the Celtic faithful’s eyes. After two attempts from Maswanhise, Liam Gordon found himself in the right place at the right time to pass into an empty net.
The living-dangerous nature of this Celtic side had finally seemed to take its toll. News filtered through to the capital and the Jambos reacted ecstatically. Typically though, the story had a further tale to tell. At the end of injury time, Kieran Tierney launched a long throw-in into the box.
With Auston Trusty going for a header, Sam Nicholson jumped alongside him. The 31-year-old then elbowed the side of the Americans’ head before handing the ball out of the penalty area. Unsurprisingly, a penalty was John Beaton’s verdict. With all the pressure on Kelechi Iheanacho, just as he did at Rugby Park earlier this season, he dispatched it coolly and ran into the crowd to celebrate this monumental moment.
As the updated score filtered through to Tynecastle, disbelief followed. The group of Hearts players stood on the pitch with a gloomy look on their faces; meanwhile, many of the fans applauded their players' efforts but seemed understandably empty. They know just how much tougher a task Saturday became.
The reaction to the midweek football has largely been dominated by the penalty decision. BBC pundit Ryan Stevenson branded the decision a “disgrace” and made a random comparison to the amount of time that it took for West Ham’s goal to be disallowed against Arsenal. Michael Stewart also claimed that “one team” have benefited from the six major decisions in recent weeks in the title race. Derek McIness, of course, added fuel to the fire, brandishing the penalty call “disgusting”.
It really has proved a baffling depiction of events. Emotions run high and you can understand fear, but a little bit of objectivity is necessary.
Yes, decisions have gone their way like last night (rightly) or Alistair Johnson’s tackle last week (again rightly) but the idea that the Hoops have benefited from decisions more than their challengers just doesn’t stack up. Two weeks ago, Joe Newell equalised at Easter Road after clearly handling the ball, while a stonewall penalty was missed in the second half. In the reverse fixture at Celtic Park, Auston Trusty was sent off while Liam Scales was denied an obvious penalty.
Furthermore, cast your mind back to the last match at Tynecastle when Auston Trusty was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Except, when you watch it back, Pierre Landry Kaboré was heading away from goal with Dane Murray covering his run.
The reality is that a lot of this reaction comes from fear. It’s essentially a cup final and with the showdown at Celtic Park, in front of a buoyant 60,000 fans, Celtic are now favourites to lift the title on Saturday afternoon. Opta gives the away side a 22% chance of winning and 23% chance of drawing. In other words, a 46% chance of lifting the title and a 54% chance of it returning to Celtic.
A fairytale ending to O’Neill’s return to the hotseat would go down as one of the greatest stories in Celtic history.
A few weeks ago, after a 2-1 win away to Dundee, I wrote,
“It’s going to be tense, it’s going to be tight. It’s the five-game grand prix to decide the best team in Scotland. Or perhaps the least poor team in Scotland, however you look at it…
However, in many ways, the thought of all of this accumulating in a potential league double and Martin O’Neill sailing off into the sunset may just be better than anything the Celtic faithful has experienced in a long time.
Of course, it’s more of a romantic thought than a logically reasoned prediction. The stone-cold reality is that this is a poor Celtic side and should they stumble to third in the league, no one could really be surprised.
Nevertheless, the flaw of a football fan is that often the heart speaks a little louder than the head. And I can’t help but feel that if anyone can do it, it's Martin O’Neill.”
The football romanticist side may just win after all. Just two games stand between this side and a potential double. It truly has been a roller coaster of a season and there is still so much to play for.
