NafisaMartin O’Neill has hit back firmly at the criticism surrounding Celtic’s controversial late penalty at Fir Park, as the Hoops boss made it clear he has no interest in backing down amid the growing storm involving Kris Boyd and Derek McInnes.
The Celtic manager insists his side’s fate in the title race remains “in the lap of the Gods” after a chaotic night of drama that ended with Kelechi Iheanacho’s injury-time penalty sealing a dramatic 3-2 win and setting up a final-day showdown for the Scottish Premiership crown.
With Hearts sweeping Falkirk aside 3-0 and briefly looking set to take control of the race, the pressure inside Fir Park reached boiling point across a tense 100 minutes of football.
But Celtic refused to fold, and the decisive moment arrived deep into stoppage time when Iheanacho converted from the spot to keep the champions within touching distance of another title.
O’Neill, however, was not impressed by the noise coming from outside the Celtic camp, particularly from pundits and managers questioning the decision that ultimately swung the contest.
Without holding back, he made his stance clear as scrutiny mounted over the VAR intervention and referee John Beaton’s decision to award the spot kick.
He said: “They’ll have to calm me down! We’re in tomorrow morning. The lads who played won’t do anything and will just wander around and we’ll get ourselves psychologically ready.
“We’ve done this before, we’ve played four games in eight days and travelling around Europe, going to Ibrox a couple of times. Whether we win it or not is in the lap of the Gods.”
The Motherwell camp, led by Jens Berthel Askou, were left furious after the match, branding the penalty one of the worst decisions they had ever seen, but O’Neill refused to accept the backlash being aimed at his side.
He also pointed to earlier incidents in the match that he felt went unnoticed, including a first-half penalty shout for Celtic when Daizen Maeda was challenged by Calum Ward.
The Northern Irishman added on Sky Sports: “We got a penalty which looks as if it’s pretty clear cut. Has he given it for the handball? There was an elbow on top of that too.
“The lads have a little monitor. It’s very small. I can’t really see it. I need another pair of glasses to see it. The lads thought it was a handball, an elbow as well too. I felt we had a penalty in the first half but VAR cleared that one.
“We have to win the game. Hearts don’t but at least we’ve taken it there. It’ll be a big day. It’s nice to take it into the final game which looked a long way off five or six weeks ago.”
Behind the defiance, there was also emotion from O’Neill, who admitted the Fir Park victory carried personal significance given previous painful memories at the ground from his earlier spell in Scottish football.
He said: “Absolutely. In my own crappy little way it gets some sort of vindication. It wasn’t really the same because that was the final day and we got beat but in another life I will definitely visit Motherwell again.”
Despite the celebrations sparked by Iheanacho’s winner and the travelling Celtic support erupting at full-time, O’Neill quickly shifted focus back to the job ahead.
With everything now coming down to Saturday’s final-day clash at Celtic Park, the Celtic boss knows there is no room for distraction as the title race reaches its conclusion.
He added: “A monumental effort from the team and the supporters who were phenomenal and kept us going.
“They were cheering us on at 2-2. Major effort against a very good Hearts side. I think we have got a chance, we’re at home. The atmosphere will be fantastic.
“We have to win the game. We knew this anyway, otherwise it was done for. It’s exciting, taking it into the final day and the players have good belief they can do it.”
Nafisa
