Celtic moved to within a point of Hearts with just two games to play after today’s sensational 3-1 win over the Rangers at Celtic Park…
That result confined the latest Ibrox club to third place and ends their chances of playing in the Champions League next season. After the dust settled on the Glasgow Derby, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media. Here’s everything that was said…
Q: Martin, well done. You’ve managed a lot of memorable games in this fixture, but was that up there one of the sweetest?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it was really obviously important to win the game. Great fight back by the players and lovely to win. We played some really great stuff. Strange enough, so did Rangers. The first half was just really hectic. It was one of those, you have the ball, they have the ball, you have it, they have it. And they made the most of it. So coming from behind today was great for us.”
Two more to go! 💚🤍 pic.twitter.com/DeyDh9Wup0
— 前田 大然 Daizen Maeda (@M_daizen_1020) May 10, 2026
Q: What did you make of Daizen Maeda’s performance and his two goals?
Martin O’Neill: “Sensational, really sensational. His second goal was out of this world. But his whole performance, he starts off with closing down and the negative part of the game, which he galvanises the side because he’s so good at it. And then his own performance, scoring the goals with the ball was magnificent.”
One of the greatest derby goals ever👏👏👏👏🍀👇👇 https://t.co/WuzO5FEmeM
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) May 10, 2026
Q: You’ve been picking up the results, but the team have taken some criticism in recent weeks for performances. Is that today closer to a Celtic side that looked like what they can be?
Martin O’Neill: “The performances, I think Celtic, I think the team can actually, when you play with a bit of freedom. But how often do you get freedom? You have to win football matches here. You have to dig it out. And people were talking about the four goals that we scored in extra time against St Mirren. It’s been part of the Celtic thing. But we’ve had to work for that. We’ve really had to work for it. This is the whole point. And today I thought there was some fabulous stuff being played.
Celtic tifo ahead of the Old Firm clash with Rangers 🍀 pic.twitter.com/Yo8UZO5m6j
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 10, 2026
“The crowd, of course, played a big part. I thought they were really terrific. They carried us along at a time when Rangers were in the ascendancy. But yeah, the criticism, I’m not worried. It would be nice to start a season, get your own thoughts together, your own plans, all that type of stuff. And lay out plans for the whole season. It wasn’t to be. And we’ve been playing catch-up. That’s the thing. And we’re still playing catch-up. So I don’t know. Maybe they might extend the season for us to catch-up!”
Q: The gap’s just one point now, with two games to go. What’s your feeling and what’s your sense of what’s to come in the next week?
Martin O’Neill: “What’s to come? We have to win. We have no grounds for dropping points. We can’t afford to do it. I would just expect Hearts to win their game. So we’ve got a really difficult match at Motherwell. Really difficult. And I couldn’t even think about the following game until that match was played. Really difficult, as was proved last night.”
Q: Do you get the sense, even at the end of the celebrations, that the team feel that this is very much on now? That what was once probably seen as improbable is now within their hands?
Martin O’Neill: “Right, okay. What were they celebrating?
Q: Well, obviously the win.
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I think the players, I think they’re delighted with their own performance. I think they’re delighted with the comeback in the game. Could have wilted, didn’t do that. But I think there’s, in the dressing room, I think there’s only thoughts on Wednesday. Definitely.
Q: Are you more confident now, Martin?
Martin O’Neill: “Me? I’ve never been confident.”
Q: As long as you’re winning, that must count for something?
Martin O’Neill: “People have said to me about momentum, and I think momentum can get shifted at any given moment. We’re doing fine. We’re really doing fine in the games. But as you say, it’s something about, we’re just trying to find a way to win. Today was obviously special against Rangers. It is. But it’s eventually, in the scheme of things, it’s just three points. And we can look no further than Wednesday.”
Q: Martin, but results-wise, certainly, Tannadice was a kind of line in the sand, from which the results have been very, very good. Has something changed for you at that point?
Martin O’Neill: “I thought that we were poor that particular day. Aside from a pitch, it doesn’t really matter. That’s the nature of the game. We had a couple of chances in the match. We had one, Kieran Tierney put over the bar early on. And Iheanacho, forced a really great save from their keeper. But we didn’t play well in the match. We deserved to lose it.
“And it was probably the first time that we really started to question whether we have it or not. And also, I think they gave a bit of time for reflection because there was an international break then. And so the team, whatever they were thinking about, they’ve been roaring back. And even with all the wins that we’ve had, we’re still behind. Good news that, isn’t it?”
Q: You’re behind, but how important is it now that it’s probably in your own hands, isn’t it?
Martin O’Neill: “If you win the matches, yeah. If you win the games, it’s true. And I suppose that before last night, that’s the scenario that you’d have wanted. I said before that even if Hearts had won last night, it’s very much in their own hands because the goal difference would probably be too great. But at least, yeah, it’s in our hands. We have to try and do something about it.”
Q: Obviously, you watched the game last night, Martin. Do you think that maybe gave the players an added boost going into today?
Martin O’Neill: “I think so, yeah. I think it would have done. I think if Hearts had won, it’s a long way back for you. And it might have been, particularly having conceded the goal. But yeah, I wouldn’t disagree with you. I think it gave us a bit of a boost as well too. So, we’re ready to go.”
Q: Can I just get your thinking behind starting Luke McCowan today on the right and then having to bring him off at half-time?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, well, what we thought is that with Alistair getting fitter each time he plays and the ability to get up and down and support people, we just thought that Luke might have been able to cut inside. As it turns out, he made the pass for the equalising goal. It was tough, really, for him because it was hard to get a breath. He hasn’t started a game for a little while and the pace was really hectic.
“So, from that viewpoint, yeah, we just changed it at half-time. But the reasoning behind it was the very fact that Alistair can get fitter, he can join in. And if Luke was coming inside a couple of times, he could thread little things through to Alistair on the overlap. That was the thought.”
Q: You’re saying you’re not confident, you don’t feel confident generally. How are you feeling about the next week?
Martin O’Neill: “Just exactly that. It’s the games. We’ve been fighting a long way. We know what’s ahead of us now at this minute. Wednesday will be really tough. I think that was shown from last night. I think the run that we’re on gives us confidence to go and compete. And also the fact that we’ve come from behind today as well. I know we’re at home. The crowd were brilliant for us. But to come from behind against Rangers and play in the manner in which we did, particularly in the second half, that should give us a boost.”
Q: Have the players been quite calm through this run?
Martin O’Neill: “I think that at half-time in the game today, I just thought that there was a calmness. I said to the players, ‘Listen, we’re doing fine. We will get opportunities. We have to take them.’ And if we can keep Rangers at bay, I thought that they came on strong in the latter stages of the second half. But by that time, I suppose we had forced the two goals and were in front. But getting back to your point, I think we feel more confident than perhaps before.”
Q: In terms of the best derby goals you’ve seen, is Daizen Maeda’s up there with Henrik Larsson’s goal?
Martin O’Neill: “Yes, it is. Very much so. Henrik will disagree, of course. Great goal. He was super today. Super. I’m going to take him out tonight. He was terrific. Really terrific. I don’t know where he gets the energy from.”
Q: What was going through your head when he lined up the overhead kick?
Martin O’Neill: “Do you know what? Honestly, when he did it, I knew it was going in. Because there was enough pace to carry it across. And I think, this is going in. And then it went in. Not because I said it was going to go in, because it was great.”
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