Derek McInnes strongly criticised the officiating after Celtic’s dramatic late win over Motherwell, with the Hearts manager clearly frustrated by the stoppage-time penalty that now sends the Premiership title race to Celtic Park on Saturday.

Hearts had done their own job earlier in the evening with a comfortable 3-0 win over Falkirk at Tynecastle.

For a period late in the second half, that looked enough to leave McInnes’ side firmly in control of the title race after Motherwell equalised against Celtic at Fir Park. Then came the late penalty incident involving Auston Trusty and Sam Nicholson before Kelechi Iheanacho converted from the spot deep into stoppage time.

The decision immediately became one of the biggest talking points of the night.

Replay angles appeared to show Nicholson’s arm raised during the challenge while Trusty attacked the loose ball inside the area. VAR reviewed the incident before John Beaton awarded the penalty.

McInnes clearly disagreed with the outcome.

The Hearts boss also referenced other recent officiating flashpoints involving the title race, including Hearts’ own penalty appeal against Motherwell at the weekend and Alistair Johnston avoiding a red card against Rangers.

He said: (Clyde 1 Superscoreboard), “But it’s hard not to feel that everybody felt, the crowd felt a bit flat and it wasn’t your normal.

“I’d heard there was a 96 minute penalty, I didn’t need to ask who for, and it was going to VAR and obviously it’s salty of score.

“Having seen it, it feels like us against everybody.

“When you see the two that we didn’t get at the weekend and then you see that, how they can arrive at that situation, Celtic, I’m sure, more than a touch of fortune of getting that penalty.

“But I’m getting more and more dismayed at some of the decisions that our referees are coming up with.

“It’s such a bad decision.

“Motherwell must feel totally aggrieved with it.

“I had to keep looking at it, I thought I was missing something when I was watching it.

“I had to ask what am I looking for here?

“It’s actually quite disgusting to be honest.”

The comments will likely increase attention on refereeing decisions heading into Saturday’s title decider at Celtic Park.

Matches involving Celtic and Hearts have already carried huge pressure over recent weeks because of how tight the title race has become.

From Celtic’s point of view, though, the focus will stay firmly on the result itself.

Martin O’Neill’s side now know victory over Hearts on Saturday would secure the Premiership title after a dramatic night at Fir Park completely changed the mood of the race again.