Kelechi Iheanacho scored a late penalty to boost Celtic’s title race in the Scottish Premiership with a a 3-2 comeback win at Motherwell. Iheanacho slotted a spot-kick after a VAR check showed Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson committing a handball in the area.
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The former Hearts of Oak midfielder jumped to head the ball away in the final minutes of the game, but it appeared to hit his raised hand right in front of his head.
Celtic, who needed three goals to cancel league leaders Hearts points on the table, were one goal down in the first half of the game. However, the Scottish giants fought back to a 2-1 lead before making it 2-2 with Liam Gordon’s 85th minute superb finish at Fir Park.
At this point, Celtic would have needed to beat Hearts by three goals to win the title on the final day. But Iheanacho’s late penalty ensured that the four-time defending champions only need a home win against Hearts to clinch the title on Saturday.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes slams controversial penalty decision
Hearts of Oak manager Derek McInnes has made it clear that he finds the late penalty awarded to Celtic at Motherwell “disgusting.” Celtic went into Wednesday’s game needing to overcome Hearts’ three-point lead on the Scottish Premiership table.
Hearts had earlier cruised to a 3-0 win over Falkirk, and Celtic’s defeat meant that McInnes’ side were primed to be crowned champions at Celtic Park on Saturday. Celtic needed to beat Motherwell by three goals to stand a chance to win the title for the fifth time.
The game at Motherwell was 2-2 at injury time until video assistant referee (VAR) Andrew Dallas called referee John Beaton to the pitchside monitor to review Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson handball. Replays appeared to show the ball hitting Nicholson’s head, rather than his raised hand. But Beaton went on to award a spot-kick which Kelechi Iheanacho converted to snatch a 3-2 win.
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Following the game, McInnes expressed his “disgust” at the penalty decision, insisting the ball hot Nicholson’s head instead of the hand.
“I think it’s disgusting. I don’t think it’s a penalty kick,” McInnes told Sky Sports. “But we’re up against it, we’re up against everybody and we’ll be ready for Saturday.
“There were two more shouts for a penalty kick at our game at Motherwell. If I’m Motherwell, I’m really disappointed with that having seen it again. I think it’s so poor that they’ve been given that penalty. They’ve been very fortunate on that side of it and we have to realise we’re up against everything. We need to just go and deal with the game on Saturday.”
