IT CREPT in with the merest whisper and went out with an almighty roar.
Celtic’s 2025/26 campaign will go down in the Hoops’ Hall of Fame as one of the most extraordinary in the club’s proud history.
Written off and dismissed, the Parkhead men simply refused to roll over – and completed an unforgettable crusade with a league and Cup double.
CQN continue our EXCLUSIVE series revealing how Martin O’Neill, who twice answered SOS calls from his old club, manoeuvred Celtic through a minefield to achieve the impossible dream of a fifth successive title.
Please enjoy!
WALLOP…Kelechi Iheanacho fires in the winner against Dundee at Dens Park.
APRIL 2026
FOUR games, four wins, the top six split off to a flyer and a place in the Scottish Cup Final.
The dark clouds that had hovered over Parkhead for much of the season appeared to be clearing.
Kelechi Iheanacho was proving to be invaluable with his penalty-box prowess as he produced a sequence of stunning finishes that kept Celtic on track for the league and Cup double, thought of as highly implausible by so many not so long ago.
The Nigerian international striker proved to be the difference between three points for a win and one for a draw when he materialised in a packed penalty box to get on the end of a Marcelo Saracchi delivery to blast an unstoppable drive beyond motionless Dundee keeper Jon McCracken at Dens Park on April 5.
There were only four minutes of regulation time to go when Iheanacho, a free transfer arrival from Sevilla in September, made a timely intervention.
The Hoops desperately needed three points from this fixture after losing on Tayside in the previous outing.
HAND’S UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates being the matchwinner against St Mirren in Celtic’s 1-0 triumph at Parkhead on Aptil 11.
And it was another free transfer man who made the difference against St Mirren at Parkhead the following weekend when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drilled a low effort wide of Shamal George for the only goal of the game.
As a spectacle, it never got off the ground, but nobody was complaining with another three points in the bag.
The two teams locked horns again a week later and it transformed into an eight-goal parade, with Martin O’Neill’s side firing in four goals in six minutes in extra-time in a breathtaking 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final triumph to set up a Hampden showpiece showdown against Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline at Hampden on May 23.
Celtic blew a two-goal advantage – with Maeda and Anthony Ralston on target – to get pegged back to 2-2 with the Paisley team displaying commendable spirit with strikes from Mikael Mandron, the equaliser coming in the first minute of stoppage-time.
AT THE DOUBLE…Daizen Maeda celebrates the first of his two goals in Celtic’s 3-1 win over Falkirk at Parkhead on April 25 with skipper Callum McGregor about to join in.
O’Neill’s side then turned on the afterburners as they blitzed their opponents with Iheanacho (2), Luke McCowan and Benjamin Nygren piling the misery on their Premier Sports League Cup Final conquerors.
That victory eased the champions towards the first of their five vitally-important games in the run-in to the conclusion of an incredible Premiership crusade.
Falkirk were up first and Daizen Maeda stole the spotlight with a breathtaking all-round show that included a double while Kieran Tierney netted the other with a net-bulging left-foot finish that ripped into the roof of the net.
The victory put the Hoops joint-top of the table for 24 hours before Hearts beat nine-man Hibs 24 hours later.
It was all ticking down towards a memorable crescendo.
RESULTS
April 5:
Premiership:
Dundee 1 CELTIC 2
Yang, Iheanacho
April 11:
Premiership:
CELTIC 1 St Mirren 0
Oxlade-Chamberlain
April 19:
Scottish Cup: Semi-final:
CELTIC 6 St Mirren 2 (AET)
Maeda, Ralston, Iheanacho (2), McCowan, Nygren
April 25:
Premiership:
CELTIC 3 Falkirk 1
Maeda 2, Tierney
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss Part Ten of The Impossible Dream – only in your champion CQN.
