Canada right-back Alistair Johnston and Celtic host Hearts in a winner-take-all match for the Scottish Premiership title at Parkhead on Saturday.
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On May 11, 1991, the Scottish football world had its eyes firmly fixed upon Ibrox.
On the final day of the season, Aberdeen visited Rangers, clinging to a one-point lead atop the table. A draw would be enough to claim the crown, but Rangers had other ideas. A Mark Hateley brace earned the hosts a 2-0 win and Rangers won a third straight league title.
The focal point of Scottish football will once again be Glasgow this Saturday, only about 15 minutes away from Ibrox along the M74. For the first time since that famous match 35 years ago, the Scottish title will be decided by one match on the final day of the season.
Celtic, seeking a fifth straight title and their 14th in the past 15 years, host Hearts, looking for the club’s first championship since 1960, at Parkhead. Derek McInnes’s side attempts to become the first team other than Celtic or Rangers to win a title since Aberdeen in 1985. Famously, Aberdeen’s manager would then depart for a job in England in 1986 to try to turn around a struggling team that hadn’t won a league title in a decade. Suffice it to say, Sir Alex Ferguson ended up doing just fine at Manchester United.
Like Aberdeen did in 1991, Hearts will enter Saturday’s match with a one-point edge over their hosts, meaning that a draw is enough to secure the championship. The Hoops must win in order to retain their crown. That the lead is only one point and not three is a massive source of contention coming out of the penultimate matchday on Wednesday.
There was a chance for Hearts to be crowned champions on Wednesday with a win over Falkirk and a Celtic defeat at Motherwell. The Jam Tarts did their part with a comfortable 3-0 victory with spectators at Tynecastle Park turning their focus to the Celtic match on their phones. At times it appeared history might be made. Motherwell opened the scoring through Elliot Watt and led for nearly a half-hour before goals from Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren pulled the champions ahead.
When defender Liam Gordon scored in the 85th minute to level matters at 2-2, it looked to have secured a draw for Motherwell and set up a straightforward path to the title for Hearts on Saturday, but great controversy was still to come.
In stoppage, Celtic attempted a long throw as it pushed for a late winner. Celtic’s Auston Trusty and Sam Nicholson both jumped to head it. Nicholson’s arm was resting on Trusty’s shoulder and as they both jumped, Nicholson’s hand, thrusted upwards, made contact with the ball.
After a call from upstairs, referee John Beaton made his way over to the pitchside monitor. It was initially believed that he was looking into Nicholson’s elbow on Trusty, but he was, in fact, looking for a handball. In the ninth minute of what was supposed to be five minutes of stoppage, Beaton pointed to the spot. Motherwell was incredulous.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s spot kick was perfect and Celtic pulled out an improbable 3-2 win.
Reaction to the VAR decision across the football world was swift and the consensus deemed it an all-time poor one.
“I thought I’d seen it all this year, but apparently I haven’t,” Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou said. “It’s shocking. Even if he touches with his fingernail, it’s because there’s contact when he goes up. His arm is here, then he gets pushed into it, so it would never be a penalty anyway.”
McInnes was irate when asked about the call.
“It’s disgusting,” the Hearts boss said. “I don’t think it’s a penalty kick. We’re up against it, we’re up against everybody and we’ll be ready for Saturday.”
Pundits were in agreement.
“This might be the worst VAR decision I’ve seen (and there’s a lot of competition),” Gary Lineker wrote on social media. “Extraordinary given the significance.”
Regardless of the call’s merit, it happened and now both Hearts and Celtic must deal with its repercussions. Will this break Hearts’ nerve and let Martin O’Neill’s significantly more experienced team win another title with a final day victory? Or will this steel the Jam Tarts’ resolve to seal a first league championship in 66 years?
For Celtic, Saturday is the chance to cap off what was an uneven season filled with turmoil with a record-setting 56th league title, breaking the current tie with Rangers. In October, manager Brendan Rodgers resigned from his post, citing a lack of support from ownership. The 73-year-old O’Neill, who managed the Hoops to three league titles from 2000 to 2005, would step in on an interim basis until a permanent boss was hired.
Celtic found their man in former CF Montreal and Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy, who took over in early December. To call Nancy’s reign a disaster would be charitable. Taking over from O’Neill who had won seven of his eight matches in charge, Nancy would lose six of his eight matches in charge. A 3-1 loss at home to Rangers on Jan. 3 marked his death knell with the Frenchman dismissed after only 33 days.
With Nancy gone, O’Neill returned again in an attempt to simply see out the season, but something else happened entirely. The former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss managed to get the Hoops back into the title race. In the 17 league matches since O’Neill’s second comeback, Celtic lost just two.
“From where we were in late December, to be back involved, and we’ve been under pressure now for two or three months in having to win every game, the players have responded so well, and now we have the chance to have our day on Saturday,” Celtic captain Callum McGregor said after Wednesday’s dramatic victory.
“So now it’s about preparing properly, resting over the next two days and then we have to go for it. I’m sure the stadium will be white hot in terms of atmosphere, and we have to go and take the game to them and, ultimately, see if we can win the game.”
For Vancouver’s Johnston, it’s been right back into the fire following his latest six-month absence.
After returning for a 19-minute cameo in a 3-1 win over Falkirk on Apr. 25, his first action since Oct. 23, Johnston has started Celtic’s last three matches and turned in shifts of 63, 80 and 69 minutes respectively. Playing in important matches, this late stretch is the perfect level of competition to get Johnston ready for the World Cup.
And it couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Johnston told Sky Sports this week that continuing to be a spectator wasn’t good for his nerves.
“I actually don’t understand how people do it,” Johnston said of being a fan. “Going in there every match. I was living through it every single moment of it. Falling to my knees, sometimes. “It was a difficult spell. We weren’t winning every match, and the ones we were winning, they weren’t always the most comfortable of victories, let’s just say that. It was quite nervy the whole time.
“But at the same time, there is no help like being on the park. We all know that. That’s something that has motivated me to get back, and hopefully, be able to play an important part in this run-in here, because I do know what I can bring to the game for our team.”
Now in his fourth season at Parkhead, Johnston has the opportunity to add even more silverware to an already crowded trophy cabinet. A win on Saturday would mean Johnston has won the league title in every season he’s been in Scotland. And on May 23, Celtic will take on Championship side Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup Final. A domestic double for Celtic would take Johnston’s trophy haul in four seasons to nine.
