Celtic wrapped up the Scottish Premiership title on a dramatic last day against Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon but there were some worrying scenes at the final whistle
Hearts players made a hasty exit from Celtic Park after seeing their title-decider end in shocking scenes. Derek McInnes’ side were on the way to sealing the title against Celtic on the last day of the season after Lawrence Shankland’s opener.
Arne Engels equalised from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, with late goals from Daezen Maeda and Callum Osmand instead seeing the trophy remain in Glasgow.
After those dramatic scenes, fans flooded onto the pitch, leading to police having to intervene. Both sets of players were taken off the pitch, with the referee eventually blowing the final whistle 30 seconds early once the playing surface was cleared.
And it appears that Hearts were in no mood to stick around. Shortly after the game finished, both players and staff were spotted boarding the team bus – some reportedly still on their kits – to make the journey back to Edinburgh. Neither the players or manager McInnes fulfilled their post-match media commitments.
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READ MORE: BREAKING: Celtic vs Hearts ends in ugly scenes as police drag players off after pitch invasionREAD MORE: Celtic snatch title from Hearts with dramatic late goals in final day shootout
Sky Sports host Eilidh Barbour said after the full-time whistle: “They [The Hearts players] have left in their full kit, they didn’t get changed and you can understand.
“But also, the scenes at the end where supporters came on the pitch, we are hearing reports that there were some assaults towards Hearts players.
“That is something that we do not want to see from supporters on the pitch at any time in football. It’s football at the end of the day.”
On the scenes that saw supporters flood onto the pitch, James McFadden said: “You can hear the reaction from the majority of Celtic fans in here that the fans are on the pitch, booing them.
“You don’t want to see it. It’s a game of football. You’ve got two teams going toe-to-toe that have earnt the right to go toe-to-toe on a day like today and the winner emerges with the trophy.
Hearts have played their part by a huge stretch. And we don’t want to see an overspill of fans. I understand the emotion and the occasion of the game.
“And people will say ‘Celtic fans, they win it all the time, why are they so overjoyed?’ They’ve still won a league title, they’ve got a right to celebrate.
“But you can’t cross the line. And when you cross a line and if that’s correct that a Hearts player that has been assaulted then that is absolutely unacceptable.
“There’s been so many things wrong with the game up here this season. And we have to address it but I think we need look at what Hearts have managed to achieve this season and they don’t want pats on the back and it’s not patronising to say ‘well done, that was good’. Hearts have shown everyone they’re here to say. This is not a one-off from Hearts.”
Hearts eventually finished just two points behind eventual champions Celtic.
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