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# 🏆 “SENSATIONAL” — O’Neill Savours Old Firm Glory as SPFL Statement Looms Over Dramatic Title Race
**Daizen Maeda’s overhead kick. A stunned Ibrox manager. And a governing body stepping into the chaos. Scottish football doesn’t do things quietly.**
Celtic Park erupted on Sunday as the Hoops delivered a commanding 3-1 victory over Rangers in the William Hill Premiership, and the drama didn’t end when referee Nick Walsh blew the final whistle. A charged post-match atmosphere, a defiant Martin O’Neill press conference, and a serious SPFL intervention have combined to make this one of the most talked-about Old Firm weekends in years.
**O’Neill’s Glowing Words — and a Respectful Nod to Röhl**
Martin O’Neill was visibly emotional and animated after the full-time whistle, and his words in the post-match press conference were as warm as they were revealing.
“It was really obviously important to win the game,” said O’Neill. “Great fight back by the players and lovely to win. We played some really great stuff. Strange enough, so did Rangers as well too. The first half was just really hectic.” [Celtic Way](https://www.celticway.co.uk/news/26093461.martin-oneill-shares-half-time-message-celtic-players-vs-rangers/)
O’Neill was magnanimous in victory, acknowledging the quality Danny Röhl’s side had shown before Celtic ultimately overwhelmed them. The Celtic manager reserved his highest praise for the man who made the game safe — Daizen Maeda, whose stunning overhead kick for the third goal left Celtic Park breathless.
“Sensational, really sensational. His second goal was out of this world,” [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-fc-oneill-larsson-maeda-rangers/) O’Neill declared, and in a moment that underlined just how special the finish was, he drew comparisons with an iconic Old Firm goal by Henrik Larsson back in 2000. “Henrik will disagree of course, but it was a great goal. He was super today. Honestly. I don’t know where he gets the energy from. When he did it, I knew it was going in. It was incredible.” [The Scotsman](https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/latest-celtic-news/martin-oneill-mulls-over-celtic-hearts-momentum-and-critiques-daizen-maedas-moment-of-brilliance-8515534)
Comparisons with Larsson from O’Neill are not thrown around lightly. It spoke volumes.
**The Goals That Broke Rangers**
Rangers briefly led through Mikey Moore’s ninth-minute opener before Yang Hyun-jun restored parity on 23 minutes. [The Scotsman](https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/latest-celtic-news/martin-oneill-mulls-over-celtic-hearts-momentum-and-critiques-daizen-maedas-moment-of-brilliance-8515534) Yang equalised after sharp play involving Luke McCowan and Arne Engels. O’Neill then changed the match completely at half-time by introducing Sebastian Tounekti and moving Yang back over to the right side. From there, Celtic took over. Kieran Tierney kept finding space down the left and Daizen Maeda stretched Rangers constantly. His overhead kick for the third goal sent the stadium wild and completely killed the game. [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-fc-rohl-rangers-troll/)
By the closing stages, Celtic supporters were enjoying themselves. James Tavernier had already been sarcastically applauded during what could be his final derby appearance. [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-fc-rohl-rangers-troll/) The symbolism was not lost on anyone inside Celtic Park.
**The SPFL Statement That Rocked the Build-Up**
Long before kick-off, a serious institutional dispute was already making headlines. Celtic had refused to grant Rangers a full allocation of away tickets, sparking a formal complaint and a governing body intervention that had the entire Scottish football world watching.
The SPFL confirmed it had received a request for a determination from Rangers in relation to the William Hill Premiership match away to Celtic on May 10. “This follows discussions between the two clubs failing to reach agreement on the ticketing arrangements for the match and Celtic notifying Rangers that Celtic is not in a position to allocate any tickets to Rangers for visiting supporters.” [The Celtic Star](https://thecelticstar.com/spfl-appoint-sub-committee-to-settle-celtic-v-rangers-ticket-row/)
The SPFL sub-committee ultimately confirmed that 5% of the stadium was a reasonable allocation for the fixture in terms of SPFL Rule I27. [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-fc-spfl-verdict-rangers/) Celtic’s position — rooted in safety concerns following violent scenes at previous fixtures — was effectively upheld. The SPFL noted it had been consulting with all clubs for months regarding the rules in this area and had intended to table a resolution at the June AGM to bring forward the referral deadline from 14 days to 35 days prior to a fixture. [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/celtic-fc-spfl-verdict-rangers/)
**A Title Race on a Knife’s Edge**
Celtic remain fighting. O’Neill acknowledged: “We still have a chance. There’s no question about it. We still have to try and win our games.” [Celts Are Here](https://celtsarehere.com/martin-oneill-celtic-title-message/) With Hearts drawing 1-1 against Motherwell the previous evening, Celtic closed the gap at the top. A winner-takes-all final day against Hearts at Celtic Park now looms — and Scottish football holds its breath.
*Martin O’Neill’s Celtic are not done yet. Not by a long way.*