{"id":466564,"date":"2026-05-03T15:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466564\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T15:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:23:13","slug":"iheanacho-hands-celtic-major-title-boost-amid-controversy-in-frenetic-clash-with-hibs-5-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466564\/","title":{"rendered":"Iheanacho hands Celtic major title boost amid controversy in frenetic clash with Hibs \u2013 5 talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daizen Maeda opened the scoring then Joe Newell equalised with a handball before the Nigerian hit the winner<\/p>\n

Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates as he scores to make it 2-1 <\/p>\n

Forget about teams lying down. Martin O\u2019Neill<\/a> and the Celtic fans probably needed one after making a big move in the title race after a nervy afternoon at Easter Road.<\/p>\n

Hibs fans were happy enough avoiding giving Hearts a helping hand but Celtic<\/a> were still made to sweat despite David Gray<\/a>\u2019s side being sunk by yet another red card.<\/p>\n

Jamie McGrath\u2019s early sending off<\/a> should have made it a straightforward day for the Hoops.<\/p>\n

Daizen Maeda\u2019s opener got them on the way but a controversial leveller before half-time \u2013 allowed by VAR despite the ball catching Joe Newell\u2019s arm<\/a> \u2013 caused some panic.<\/p>\n

But sub Kelechi Iheanacho<\/a> was the most chilled out man in Leith as he coolly buried the crucial second goal to send Celts level at the top with Hearts before the Gorgie men\u2019s clash with Rangers.<\/p>\n

It was a jittery afternoon though \u2013 as it was always going to be.<\/p>\n

Celts forced the issue early on with Benjamin Nygren blocked and Maeda blasting over.<\/p>\n

The Japanese running machine also dragged one wide and by that stage the Hoops had a firm grip on the game \u2013 and had a man advantage.<\/p>\n

McGrath was sent packing after just 22 minutes following a VAR check on his wile lunge on Alistair Johnston to leave facing another gruelling shift just a week after going down to nine against Hearts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hibernian’s Jamie McGrath is sent off for a late challenge on Celtic’s Alistair Johnston<\/p>\n

It was backs-to-the-wall for Gray\u2019s men but Celtic struggled to chisel through.<\/p>\n

But the crucial breakthrough came three minutes before the interval \u2013 even if Celts were made to wait by VAR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johnson did the damage hitting the byline and picking out Maeda to bury from close range.<\/p>\n

Hibs hitting back right before the interval was certainly not in the script \u2013 and it was very debatable.<\/p>\n

Celts were at sea at the back after Sebastian Tounekti conceded a cheap free kick.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hibernian’s Joe Newell scores to make it 1-1<\/p>\n

But even Newell looked surprised when VAR rubber-stamped his close-range effort after the ball looked to have come off his arm on the way.<\/p>\n

Celtic got severely bogged down after the break as they huffed and puffed in search of a second \u2013 until Iheanacho cooly pulled down Kieran Tierney\u2019s corner to slot home with 20 minutes to go.<\/p>\n

The Hoops sat back to see it out, but there was a major scare when Ante Suto hit the side netting, keeping nerves jangling all the way to the final whistle.<\/p>\n

Here are five talking points…<\/p>\n

Major move<\/p>\n

It might not have been pretty but it was a huge result for Celtic in the end \u2013 and it piles the pressure on Hearts and Rangers before those two square up.<\/p>\n

This might have summed up the Hoops season and it could also be a god omen.<\/p>\n

Celts got there eventually but they didn\u2019t half make life hard for themselves and put their manager and fans through the wringer.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill\u2019s side should have been comfortable with a man and a goal up.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kelechi Iheanacho scores to make it 2-1<\/p>\n

The leveller might have been very dubious but Celts toiled to keep control until Iheanacho pounced.<\/p>\n

It did show though that this Hoops side are determined to dig it out no matter what \u2013 and it might even deliver a title that has looked unlikely at times this term.<\/p>\n

A quiet place<\/p>\n

Never mind Sunshine of Leith. There was more atmosphere on the dark side of the moon.<\/p>\n

This will go down as one of the most bizarre games in recent history \u2013 with a whack of home fans hoping their team would lose.<\/p>\n

It was maybe understandable given taking points would give fierce foes Hearts a leg up.<\/p>\n

Plenty of home punters gave this a miss and others sat in silence.<\/p>\n

The Hibs squad eerie giving it their all though, but it was hard when there wasn\u2019t much energy coming from the stands.<\/p>\n

Some home fans did give some encouragement but the noise all came from the away end when hit was done and dusted.<\/p>\n

AJ packs a punch<\/p>\n

Johnston might have been a surprise starter after just 20 minutes action last weekend.<\/p>\n

But his impact on the side was immediate. The Canadian gives his side so much in terms of his quality on the ball, but also with his thrusting runs forward.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Celtic’s Alistair Johnston celebrates as Daizen Maeda scores to make it 1-0 <\/p>\n

His burst and ball for the opener was massive.<\/p>\n

Johnston constantly provides an attacking option down the right, even when he\u2019s not getting the ball he\u2019s dragging defenders with him to create space for others.<\/p>\n

This was another big step in term of his fitness and he will be a key man in the remaining push.<\/p>\n

Boot up the VARS<\/p>\n

There is no margin of error for the players at this stage of the race \u2013 but the same goes for the officials.<\/p>\n

And right now some of these big calls could have huge ramifications. The VAR officials had to step in to sort out the red card and offside goal ruling here.<\/p>\n

But the decision to let the Hibs equaliser stand seemed a strange one, given the ball looked to have come off Newell\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

Even the man himself was stunned.<\/p>\n

Celtic managed to see it out \u2013 but this could have been major moment in the title race.<\/p>\n

The officials need to be on their game as we don\u2019t need any controversy over the run in.<\/p>\n

Code red<\/p>\n

These red cards are killing Hibs \u2013 and risking their hopes of Europe.<\/p>\n

Hibs had to give this a go with Falkirk breathing down their necks.<\/p>\n

But McGrath\u2019s daft lunge early on much have driven David Gray up the wal and made it four reds in the last three games.<\/p>\n

His side battled bravely with 10 and then nine men before going down to Hearts last weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Referee David Dickinson shows a red card to Hibernian’s Jamie McGrath for a late challenge on Celtic’s Alistair Johnston <\/p>\n

They also had a man sent off in the dismal lost at Pittodrie.<\/p>\n

They had to do it again here and while they put up a fight, it made it another brutal task.<\/p>\n

Hibs need to keep men on the pitch if they are to secure their spot for Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daizen Maeda opened the scoring then Joe Newell equalised with a handball before the Nigerian hit the winner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,1187,1193,128915,18,13,14,6,204834,19,17,45179,11,12,15,16,204835,92428,5,1188,7,8,16507],"class_list":["post-466564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-celtic-fc","tag-daizen-maeda","tag-david-gray","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-hibernian-fc","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kelechi-iheanacho","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-martin-boyle","tag-martin-oneill","tag-news","tag-scottish-premiership","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-var"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116511336634384271","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}