Celtic Beat Motherwell 3-2 in Dramatic Fir Park Win, Scotland 2026

Key Points

• Celtic beat Motherwell 3-2 at Fir Park on Thursday evening in a match that went deep into stoppage time.
• Kelechi Iheanacho scored the decisive goal from a VAR-assisted penalty in the ninth minute of added time.
• Motherwell led twice in the game, with Elliot Watt and Liam Gordon both scoring for the home side.
• Celtic replied through Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren before Iheanacho’s late winner.
• The result kept Celtic’s Scottish Premiership defence alive and took the title race to the final day.
• The match was reported by PA via ESPN, while BBC Sport and other outlets highlighted the dramatic late penalty and the significance of the result for the title race.
• Celtic head coach Martin O’Neill said his players showed “enormous character” and described the penalty decision as a handball after a VAR review.

Motherwell (Glasgow Express) May 15, 2026 – Celtic claimed a dramatic 3-2 win over Motherwell after Kelechi Iheanacho converted a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time, a result that kept the Scottish Premiership title race alive and left the visitors in control of their own fate heading into the final match of the season.

As reported by PA, the match swung repeatedly at Fir Park, with Motherwell twice taking the lead before Celtic responded and then snatched victory at the end. BBC Sport described the contest as one decided by a “crucial late penalty”, underlining how late the winner arrived and how much was at stake.

Who scored the goals in the match?

Elliot Watt put Motherwell ahead in the 17th minute, giving the home side an early lift. Celtic equalised through Daizen Maeda in the first half and then went ahead after Benjamin Nygren scored in the second half.

Motherwell levelled again through Liam Gordon in the 85th minute, setting up a tense finish before Iheanacho settled the contest from the spot.

ESPN’s match summary and PA’s report both identified Iheanacho’s stoppage-time penalty as the decisive moment.

Why was the late penalty so important?

The penalty mattered because it preserved Celtic’s chances of defending their title and pushed the championship race to the final day.

PA’s report, carried by ESPN, said the victory boosted Celtic’s Premiership defence and described the title race as one of the most dramatic in decades.

BBC Sport also said the win secured a dramatic late result that sent the title competition to the wire. BeIN Sports framed the match as one that set up a showdown on the final day after Celtic beat Motherwell and Hearts won heavily elsewhere.

What did Martin O’Neill say after the match?

BBC Sport reported Martin O’Neill saying his players had shown “enormous character” and kept fighting “right to the very, very end”.

He also said the squad had achieved its goal of carrying momentum into the final match of the season.

On the penalty, O’Neill told BBC Scotland that it looked like a handball and that VAR asked the referee to review it before the spot kick was awarded.

In the post-match video quoted by YouTube transcript content, he again described the call as “pretty clearcut” and said he was delighted for the team and supporters.

What did the match mean for the title race?

The result meant Celtic stayed alive in the title race and entered the final round with the championship still undecided.

Canadian Press, carried by the Lethbridge Herald, said the Scottish title race was going down to the final game after Celtic’s last-gasp win.

ESPN’s report said the result added another “sensational twist” to what it called one of the most dramatic title races in decades.

That language reflects the importance of the win without adding opinion, because the result directly affected the standings and the pressure on the final fixture.

What happened during the match?

Motherwell started strongly enough to score first through Watt, which gave them an early foothold in the game. Celtic responded before half-time through Maeda, then went ahead after the interval through Nygren.

When Gordon equalised late on, it looked as if Motherwell had done enough to hold Celtic. Instead, the late penalty overturned that script and gave Celtic all three points in a match that repeatedly changed direction.

How was the goal sequence reported?

ESPN’s match analysis listed the scorers in order as Watt, Maeda, Nygren, Gordon and then Iheanacho from the penalty spot.

That sequence matches the narrative across other reports that Motherwell led, Celtic fought back, and the visitors finished stronger.

BeIN Sports also highlighted the late penalty and described the match as contentious because of the manner in which Celtic won it.

The shared detail across outlets is that the result hinged on a VAR review and a stoppage-time decision.

What is the background to this development?

Celtic and Motherwell had already met several times this season, with Celtic’s 3-2 win at Fir Park coming against a side that had previously beaten them at the same ground in December, according to the match report from

The Celtic Star included in the user’s prompt. The broader context is that this was not the first close contest between the clubs, and Celtic had also beaten Motherwell 3-2 earlier in the campaign through a late Daizen Maeda header, as reported by STV and RTÉ in October 2025.

That earlier game also featured a late Celtic comeback, which helps explain why this latest result was framed as another narrow but decisive win in the same fixture. The May 2026 match therefore sat within a season-long pattern of tight meetings between the teams, rather than standing as an isolated one-off event.

What could this mean for supporters?

For Celtic supporters, the immediate effect is that the team remains in the title race and still has a route to finishing the season as champions. For Motherwell supporters, the result will be disappointing because their side twice led and still ended up empty-handed after nearly taking points from one of the league’s strongest teams.