Martin O’Neill admitted he fancied Celtic’s Kelechi Iheanacho to score before the striker stepped up to fire them to a massive win against Motherwell at Fir Park.
With the game hanging in the balance and Celtic needing a breakthrough to keep the title race alive heading into Saturday, Iheanacho buried the penalty calmly into the corner to hand the Hoops a crucial three points.
It keeps the gap at the top down to a single point ahead of the final day showdown with Hearts.
The Nigerian has found his rhythm at exactly the right time. His strike against Motherwell made it five goals in his last seven appearances, all of them coming off the bench.
Speaking after the match, O’Neill admitted the pressure of the moment was enormous, but said he trusted Iheanacho to deliver (TCW):
“Do you know what, this is honestly, it’s easy for me to say this now, penalty taking is still very, very difficult under the circumstances. But do you know what, I actually fancied him.”
The former Celtic manager also revealed discussions on the touchline with first-team coach Gavin Strachan over who would take responsibility from the spot.
“When Gavin said to me it was either him or Arne [Engels] to take it, I really didn’t mind.
“But when it came to the point, I was pleased that he wanted to take it because it’s the most important thing. Actually, I did watch it, believe it or not. I did, I saw it going into the corner. I probably didn’t really want to watch it.
“So it takes us to the finale, whatever comes or goes, at least we’ve gone to the end, which looked a million miles off.”
Arne Engels would have been a safe enough option. The Belgian has shown plenty of composure already this season. But with Iheanacho carrying confidence and making an impact almost every time he comes on at the moment, there was a feeling he was the man for it.
There were a few nervous looks when Liam Scales stood holding the ball near the penalty spot before the decision was finally settled.
In the end, though, Iheanacho wanted the responsibility and took it without hesitation. That mentality could prove vital heading into the final day.
A few weeks ago, Celtic looked like a side stumbling towards the line. Now the mood has shifted completely.
One win against Hearts and the title is theirs.
With a full Celtic Park behind them and momentum finally back on their side, O’Neill’s players have given themselves the chance they badly needed.
media dont want Cektic to win another title but these puntits and reporters yes there is a difference pundits are x players reporters are writers sport pages Id rather have writers than know it all pundits worst of them all is Garighar he is the most arogant person remeber this is the guy who cried to his bosses yes cried to keep his job when he gobbed at a family hitting them cause he couldnt handle what was getting said to him nothing bad he just didnt like been disagreed with keeping his job wasnt all about money to this man its his ego he needs the to be seen and on tv im sure he has all his shows thank god nothing like this in Scottish sky coverage but we do have the village idiot Boyd who thinks he is on The Rangers tv he is full of snide comments when he is working on Celtic games just loves seen them get beat in wed he was doing pundit job with ex Celtic abd hearts player Paul Hartly and John Robertson ex hearts player and manager they said there piece about the penalty decision now we know sky had no intention if covering the game till Motherwell says they would do ppv that spurred them into action coverage with less camaeras so we had a bad angle of the penalty but Boyd insisted thats the same veiw Dallas and Beaton so do sfa rely on sky and other tv networks covering the games we know sfa dont have the big bucks so we havent goaline or near as many camaeras angles i dont know if there was a better angle today we have seen different pictures that shows his hand touch the ball i might be baised but so is all the pundits even Boyd kept on about weekend decisions Johston tackle and hearts no penalty as the player went down when he relised hed been touched a dive we all have seen different frames have different issues maybe Scot brown says it and he lost win bonises by decisions he said depends who is in the var office but for Boyd to say theres cheating by ofgicails that has to be looked at ge is not there to call that