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A last-minute winner is one of the best feelings in football, for the team that scores it and for the fans that celebrate. Celtic scored one of the club’s best last-minute winners during an epic match against Hearts in January 2006, where an unlikely hero helped the club take a huge step towards the league title.
The Scottish Premiership title race of season 05/06 was a bit unexpected, as it was a battle between Celtic and Hearts, with defending champions Rangers languishing in third place.
Going into the game, Celtic had a four-point lead over the Tynecastle side, and a win would see the Bhoys open up a seven-point lead at the top of the table.
Unfortunately for Celtic, the first-half was a catastrophe, as the Hoops found themselves two-nil down thanks to goals from Edgaras Jankauskas and Steven Pressley, with only the goalkeeping of Artur Boruc preventing the score line from increasing.
The Hoops fought back in the second-half though, as Stephen Pearson made it two-one, and after Takis Fyssas was sent-off for Hearts, captain Stephen McManus headed home in the 87th minute to make the game all squared.
Celtic weren’t satisfied with that though, and in the 90th minute came the winning goal.
Once more McManus was the hero, as the ball broke to him in the penalty box, he took a swing at the ball and it crept, almost in slow motion, past Craig Gordon and into the back of the net, to spark incredible scenes of celebration amongst the Celtic support behind the goal.
The goal capped a comeback worthy of winning a title, and that is exactly what Celtic done, as the Hoops finished champions ahead of second placed Hearts. McManus deserves lots of credit for his goals in the game, as it should be remembered that he was a centre-back and a not a striker.
His first goal was an excellent header, but it was one that you would expect a centre-back to score. That wasn’t the case with his second goals, as it was a finish that a forward would have been proud of.
The timing of the goal made it even more special, as it was a last-minute winner in a title race. If Celtic had lost the game the gap at the top of the table would have been down to one point, but McManus’ winner ensured that it increased to seven.
YouTube: hearts 2 celtic 3 2006
When you look at individual moments in Celtic games, there will be winning goals that are remembered more fondly than McManus’ goal – the winning goal in the 1967 European Cup final, or any number of goals against Rangers.
But McManus’ goal should be remembered because of the circumstances it was scored in, a last-minute winner which went a long way towards clinching a title.
Perhaps this season there will be similar memories made by a current Celtic player, only time will tell on that front, but McManus’ goal was a fitting way to cap off a comeback in what has to go down as one of Celtic’s more memorable league games of the last 20 years.
