Celtic vs. Hearts live score: Scottish Premiership title match result, updates, stats

By | May 16, 2026
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It all comes down to this.

Hearts, leaders of the Scottish Premiership since September, face second-place Celtic on the final day in Glasgow. One point separates them. Rangers’ defeat at Hearts at the start of this month knocked them out of the race.

It means Saturday’s game is essentially a cup final — a one-off contest to determine whether Hearts will break the 40-year Old Firm duopoly in Scottish football and end the Celtic-Rangers stranglehold.

With Hearts holding a one-point lead coming into the match, they would secure the crown in the event of a draw, meaning Celtic must win to retain the title for a fifth straight season.

The Sporting News is following the Celtic vs. Hearts match live, providing score updates and commentary

Celtic vs. Hearts live score

Venue: Celtic Park (Glasgow, Scotland)
Referee: Don Robertson

Starting lineups:

Celtic (4-2-3-1, right to left): 12. Sinisalo (GK) — 2. Johnston, 6. Trusty, 5. Scales, 63. Tierney — 42. McGregor, 27. Engels — 13. Yang, 8. Nygren, 23. Tounekti — 38. Maeda.

Hearts (4-4-2, right to left): 25. Schwolow (GK) — 15. Steinwender, 3. Kingsley, 19. Findlay, 18. Milne — 89. Kyziridis, 6. Baningime, 14. Devlin, 23. Altena — 9. Shankland, 11. Kabore.

Celtic vs. Hearts live updates, highlights, and commentary

2nd half kickoff: They’re back under way to begin the second half! How will these two sides adjust to make a final push for the title?

It appears that Kelechi Iheanacho will be coming on for Celtic, while there are no personnel alterations for Hearts just yet.

HALFTIME: Celtic 1-1 Hearts

A gripping 45 minutes comes to an end, as the two sides are even at the break. Hearts were brilliant in breaking up Celtic possession, leaving the home fans extremely frustrated for much of the half. They used that momentum to take the lead, but Celtic have experience playing from behind, and they remained steadfast until the moment of fortune arrived with the penalty just before the halftime whistle.

Derek McInnes will be the happier manager at the halftime break, but he has to keep his side focused after they conceded just before the whistle. He will certainly be thinking about making a change at the back, with Steinwender on a yellow card and appearing to struggle for  much of the half with a muscle problem.

It’s all to play for still at Celtic Park, with the Scottish Premiership title still very much on the line!

Watch both first-half goals in USA:

45+2 min: PENALTY, CELTIC!!!! The referee has given a penalty for handball as a Kieran Tierney cross h its the arm of Alexandros Kyziridis!! It’s a very unlucky decision, but by rule the right one by the referee, as Kyziridis had his arm out parallel with the ground as he slid to block the effort. There’s a VAR check to clear the decision, just to make sure the ball didn’t deflect off the body first, but the effort is given!

Stepping up to take is Arne Engels, and he…SCORES!!! GOAL!!! Oh, so unlucky for Hearts, as Schwolow dives the correct directly but barely can’t get there! We’re level again before halftime just moments after Hearts took the lead, and Celtic Park is buzzing!

43rd min: GOAL! HEARTS!!! CAPTAIN LAWRENCE SHANKLAND FIRES HEARTS IN FRONT!!!!!!! A POTENTIALLY FAMOUS MOMENT!!!

It comes off a corner, as nobody picks up Shankland at the far post, and he fires a bullet header into the back of the net as the pile of Celtic defenders had all been sucked in towards the goalkeeper! A massive moment in the match, and the title race!

38th min: Hearts now have their first yellow as Michael Steinwender is booked for a very late slide on the edge of the penalty area. Steinwender has been laboring for most of this first half, looking to have potentially picked up a hamstring injury early in the game and gutting out the rest of the opening 45 minutes. This booking could force Derek McInnes to make a change at halftime.

35th min: The game’s first yellow card is shown to former Wake Forest defender Alistair Johnston, who puts in a pointless late slide on Jordi Altena in the attacking half after Celtic lose possession up front. He tries to pull out of the tackle but can’t quite avoid the contact.

32nd min: This match has its first shot on target as Celtic break off a scramble in midfield, but Hearts recover very well and Sebastian Tounekti can’t get a good effort off. It’s scooped up by Alexander Schwolow in goal. The home fans remain frustrated by the current game state, with Celtic unable to really squeeze Hearts into a nervous position.

20th min: An excellent tackle from Harry Milne dispossesses Yang down the right flank, and there’s a grumble around Celtic Park that the hosts aren’t getting their way in possession, not able to hurt Hearts in the ways they’re used to in most league games. The visitors are very comfortable defending, and have held their own possession to keep Celtic off the ball in a consistent manner.

5th min: As expected there’s been plenty of needle in this one to start. Celtic began with a strong push which saw them get a half-chance off the game’s first corner, before Hearts have begun to establish their own attacking impetus. Lawrence Shankland screams for a foul in the Celtic penalty area after being bodied to the ground, but there’s nothing in it and play continues.

Major “buckle up” vibes to the first five minutes of this match…

Kickoff: They’re under way at Celtic Park! 40 points separated these two teams last season, but this year they’re neck-and-neck right down to the final day. Who will take the SPFL title? Winner takes all today!

Celtic vs. Hearts: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: Hearts manager Derek McInnes has spent decades squaring off against Celtic. As a player, he spent on the other side of the Old Firm derby, contracted to Rangers for three years from 1995 to 1998. In his first season in charge of Hearts, he has the club on the precipice of history, having previously spent eight years in charge of Aberdeen, the last non-Old Firm club to win the Scottish league title.

Kickoff is minutes away, and McInnes can count on the backing of Sir Alex himself when the game begins!

30 mins to kickoff: Hearts can draw direct inspiration from one of the last times they won a major trophy, lifting the Scottish league cup at Celtic Park. That came exactly 28 years ago to the day! Can they make history today?

Lineups: The starting XI is in for both teams! For Hearts, there is a massive shock as Claudio Braga, who won the Premiership Player of the Season, has been left out of the lineup. In his place alongside Lawrence Shankland is Pierre Kabore, who has five goals and two assists this season, a far cry from the 20 goal contributions Braga has logged this year across all competitions. Also not in the lineup is wide midfielder Blair Spittall who has been a regular starter of late.

For Celtic, there are no surprises whatsoever, as their starting lineup looks exactly as expected, with no Kasper Schmeichel or Julian Araujo due to injury.

Pregame: What a day this is — a title-decider in Scotland that only includes one of the Old Firm duo! The equation is very simple: if Hearts avoid defeat, they will be Scotland’s first champions from outside Glasgow since Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in 1985. A Celtic victory and veteran coach Martin O’Neill will snatch his club’s fifth title in a row.

MORE: The last time a team other than Celtic or Rangers won the Scottish title

Celtic vs. Hearts kick off time

The match kicks off in Glasgow, Scotland at 12:30 p.m. local time.

Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA/Canada Sat, May 16 7:30 a.m. ET
USA/Canada Sat, May 16 4:30 a.m. PT
UK Sat, May 16 12:30 p.m. BST
Australia Sat, May 16 9:30 p.m. AEST
India Sat, May 16 5:00 p.m. IST

Celtic vs. Hearts team news

Celtic are missing defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Julian Araujo to season-ending injuries, while an ACL injury to star forward Jota before the season also hampered their attack. They are also missing starting goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel who picked up a season-ending shoulder injury in late February.

Hearts are walking wounded at the end of the season as well. They are missing defender Oisin McEntee who picked up a hamstring injury late in their last match against Motherwell, while Marc Leonard and Craig Halkett are also absent due to Achilles injuries. Talisman Lawrence Shankland missed a significant portion of the season due to a hamstring injury, but returned in late March and has scored four goals in his last six games.

Scottish Premiership championship group standings

Pos. Team GP Points W-D-L Goal Diff. GF-GA
1. Hearts 37 80 24-8-5 +35 66-31
2. Celtic 37 79 25-4-8 +30 40-30
3. Rangers 37 69 19-12-6 +30 71-41
4. Motherwell 37 58 15-13-9 +22 58-36

Celtic vs. Hearts live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA CBS Sports Network Paramount+, Fubo
Canada — Tenor Sports
UK Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football Sky Go, NOW TV
Australia beIN Sports 3 beIN Sports Connect
India — tabii

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