{"id":646081,"date":"2026-05-04T00:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646081\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T00:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:06:14","slug":"celtic-level-with-hearts-at-the-top-after-iheanacho-winner-breaks-10-man-hibs-scottish-premiership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646081\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic level with Hearts at the top after Iheanacho winner breaks 10-man Hibs | Scottish Premiership"},"content":{"rendered":"

The substitute Kelechi Iheanacho kept his cool amid the tension as Celtic capitalised on more indiscipline from 10-man Hibernian<\/a> to move level on points with the leaders, Hearts.<\/p>\n

Hibs\u2019 cause was dented in the 20th minute when Jamie McGrath became their fourth player in three games to be sent off.<\/p>\n

It looked as if Celtic<\/a> were on course for a straightforward victory when Daizen Maeda broke the deadlock in the 41st minute, but the captain, Joe Newell, scored a contentious equaliser for the hosts in first-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n

Celtic got themselves back in front in the 72nd minute when Iheanacho \u2013 a key figure in recent wins over Dundee and St Mirren \u2013 again popped up with a vital goal.<\/p>\n

Martin O\u2019Neill\u2019s side had to endure some nervy moments in the closing stages but held on for a fourth-consecutive league win to move four points clear of third-placed Rangers and behind Hearts on goal difference. Hearts and Rangers play each other at Tynecastle on Monday.<\/p>\n

Many Hibs supporters wanted their team to lose in order to damage their bitter rivals Hearts\u2019 hopes of winning the league and this situation was reflected by the sight of thousands of empty seats and a low-key atmosphere in the home end.<\/p>\n

The commitment of their players, however, was illustrated early on as Warren O\u2019Hora defiantly charged down a shot in the box from Benjamin Nygren. Celtic had started purposefully and Maeda blazed over after being released by Callum McGregor.<\/p>\n

The visitors\u2019 early superiority helped earn them a numerical advantage in the 20th minute as McGrath slid in recklessly on Johnston and caught the Canada international on the ankle as he tried to drive forward. The Republic of Ireland midfielder was initially booked before the video assistant referee (VAR) advised a pitch-side review. It was the third time in successive games Hibs had been reduced to 10 men in the first half.<\/p>\n

Kelechi Iheanacho fires home from close range after coming on as a substitute. Photograph: Fred Palmer\/Focus Images Ltd\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Celtic camped in the opposition half thereafter, probing for an opening. Their pressure paid off in the 41st minute after Johnston played a one-two with Nygren on the right and fizzed over a perfect low delivery for Maeda, who knocked the ball in from three yards out.<\/p>\n

The hosts equalised in first-half stoppage time. Nicky Cadden\u2019s cross was not cleared properly by either Nygren or the goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo and Newell scooped in the loose ball from seven yards. The ball appeared to roll off Newell\u2019s arm before he shot but it stood after a lengthy VAR check.<\/p>\n

With tension rising in the away end, Iheanacho \u2013 barely three minutes after entering the fray \u2013 chested the ball down and fired home after Arne Engels headed on Kieran Tierney\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n

After the match O\u2019Neill said he believes a draw between title rivals Hearts and Rangers in their meeting on Monday night would be the best result for Celtic. \u201cI will be watching it, I want to see what it\u2019s like,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. \u201cEven if we won the rest of the games, we\u2019re not guaranteed to win the league, because if Hearts won all their games, they\u2019ve got a better goal difference than us.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, with Hibs down to 10 men, had we maybe got a second goal before they scored, then it might become a different issue [in terms of goal difference], but as it turns out, it was very edgy towards the end. So I genuinely don\u2019t know. Maybe a draw. With a draw, at least people drop points.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill was philosophical about the contentious award of Hibs\u2019 equaliser after the ball appeared to come off Newell\u2019s arm before he scored, but said, \u201cI probably would have a different answer had we lost the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The manager, who hailed his \u201csuper impact player\u201d Iheanacho, was frustrated that Celtic allowed themselves to be pushed right to the end despite playing 70 minutes against 10 men. \u201cWe had to win today, it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we played better when they had 11 men than we did when they had 10. We got the second goal and then Hibs had nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been lovely if we\u2019d got a third goal, but overall I\u2019m delighted to have won. Just a nervy ending to a game that I think we might have been our own worst enemies in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hibernian manager, David Gray, lamented the debilitating impact of having a player sent off in the opening 20 minutes once again. \u201cA lot of deja vu in terms of going down to 10 men again,\u201d said Gray. \u201cI thought Celtic started brightly, they played with real intensity, and then I can\u2019t defend the decision for the red card.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s malice in it. It\u2019s not intentional, but it\u2019s a definite dangerous tackle, a definite red card. Again, I can\u2019t criticise the players that remained on the pitch, because they gave absolutely everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The substitute Kelechi Iheanacho kept his cool amid the tension as Celtic capitalised on more indiscipline from 10-man…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-646081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}