Scottish Premiership: Heartbreak of ’86 returns to haunt Hearts as Celtic win fifth title in a row

Celtic maintained their stronghold on the Scottish Premiership after sealing their fifth consecutive title with a 3-1 win over Hearts in a dramatic final-day clash.

Having topped the table for most of the season, Hearts looked on course to complete one of the most astonishing storylines in Scottish football.

A win or draw would have ended more than four decades of dominance by Celtic and Rangers and earned them their first league title in 66 years.

It would also have banished the painful memories of the 1985/86 season, when they lost the title on the final day. However, history haunted them once again.

Late drama at Parkhead crushed Hearts’ dreams as the Hoops pulled off a stunning comeback to claim their 14th Premiership title in the last 15 years.

Knowing a draw would be enough to make history, Hearts set out to repel Celtic’s attack and catch them on the counter-attack. 

It seemed like a solid plan early on as Lawrence Shankland came close to opening the scoring twice before finally breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time.

Stephen Kingsley’s corner caused problems inside the six-yard box, and Shankland rose above the Celtic defence to head past Viljami Sinisalo, keeping Hearts one step away from immortality.

However, the champions found a way back deep into first-half stoppage time when Arne Engels converted from the penalty spot to level the match at 1-1.

Celtic returned for the second half looking to finish off Hearts, and Daezen Maeda, Benjamin Nygren and Engels spurned chances to give them the lead.

Despite sitting deep, Hearts still carried plenty of attacking threat as Alan Forrest forced an important save from Sinisalo. But Celtic finally landed the hammer blow late on.

Substitute Callum Osmand drove into the penalty area before squaring the ball for Maeda, who finished from close range. 

Hearts threw everyone forward, including goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, for a late free kick. But the gamble backfired as Osmand rolled the ball into an empty net to seal the title.