Final Day Deciders, Last Night's Penalty and Late winners

Plus a look at Post-Split Records, Martin O'Neill and Daizen Maeda

Celtic and Hearts will face each other at Celtic Park on Saturday, with the title on the line and a 12:30 kick-off. In what will be Celtic Park’s biggest league match since the 2-0 win over St Johnstone in 1998 that ended Rangers’ quest for ten-in-a-row, it promises to be one of the most watched Scottish football matches in years.

It will be only the third time the Scottish top-flight title has been decided on the final day by a match between two teams that could win the league, and just the sixth such occasion across all tiers of Scottish football.

All six final-day title deciders between two teams that could win the league with victory

This has undoubtedly been the most gripping top-flight title race for at least 15 years, and arguably the best overall season in that time. Hearts and Celtic have proved themselves the two best teams in the country, and they will now meet on the final day with the title on the line. It will be the 12th time in Scottish football history that the clubs have faced each other on the final day of the season and, unsurprisingly, Celtic hold the upper hand 7 wins to 2.

The 11 previous occasions Celtic and Hearts have met on the final day. Hearts have only won two of these meetings, and none of the last five.

Hearts fans will be hoping their side can end the niche run of not beating Celtic on the final day since 1975/76, while the 57,000+ Celtic fans in the stadium will fancy their chances of roaring their team to yet another league title. But how did we get here?

This article discusses last night’s penalty before giving the stats regarding last minute winners, Martin O’Neill, Daizen Maeda and the post-split results records on offer to both Celtic and Rangers on Saturday. If you’re not yet a member here, please consider taking out a paid subscription and supporting my work, to receive full access to all articles.

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Last Night’s Penalty