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Five goals, Hart's farewell & Santa - how Celtic's trophy day unfolded

BBC
·3 min read

A five-goal thriller, an emotional farewell and an appearance from Santa in May.

Trophy days at Celtic Park are usually quite the occasion, but Saturday’s went above and beyond.

Here, BBC Scotland rounds up the best of the reaction from a wild day in the east end of Glasgow.

'One of the best trophy day atmospheres'

First, the game. On a day of 'dead-rubbers' in Premiership's top-six finale, we were treated to 13 goals across three matches - five of which came at Celtic Park.

The champions had to come back twice to eventually claim a thrilling 3-2 win over St Mirren, with a Mark O’Hara double coming either side of Matt O’Riley’s strike before Kyogo Furuhashi notched another first-half equaliser.

In an end-to-end second period, Luis Palma rounded off Celtic’s league campaign with an 86th-minute winner to end their Premiership season on a high.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said the victory was "a great way to celebrate" a 12th top-flight title in 13 seasons.

"I thought we played some really, really good football on an extremely hot day," he told BBC Scotland. "To cap it off with the late goal typified the team's mentality."

Speaking to Sky Sports, Celtic captain Callum McGregor added: "It’s one of the best atmospheres I've seen on trophy day."

"You never get tired of success. This is why you play football and there's not a more satisfying feeling than lifting that trophy above your head."

'Legend' Hart's emotional farewell

Joe Hart can add holding back his tears on Saturday to his list of career achievements.

There were some big puffs of the cheeks and looks of disbelief when the retiring goalkeeper watched an impressive fan tifo unfurl behind him at the start of the second half.

Not long after he had regained his composure, the former Manchester City and England keeper was having his heartstrings pulled again when he was substituted late on.

Serenaded by an adoring home crowd and embraced by almost every team-mate, the 37-year-old made way for Scott Bain with two minutes remaining in his final game of league football.

Addressing the Celtic support post-match, Hart said: "You guys are absolutely phenomenal. You've made me feel so special. Thank you so much for having me."

Captain McGregor was next to take the mic and heaped praise on Hart by saying "he has been a real pillar of strength for the group".

Rodgers echoed that view by adding that the goalkeeper "leaves here next week a legend".

Okay, but why was Santa there?

The thought of anyone who does not know the context of Santa's previous beef with Celtic fans watching Saturday's post-match celebrations unfold is a rather amusing one, so let us explain.

Back in December, with Celtic losing at home to Hearts, Santa made a half-time appearance at Parkhead.

With the home support a bit tetchy and in no mood for Christmas cheer, the big man was booed. Unnecessarily cruel? Yes. But sort of funny.

Days later, Rangers brought their own Santa out at Ibrox with the League Cup trophy in their match with St Johnstone. In true Old Firm tit-for-tat fashion, he received a warm reception.

All this led to Celtic bringing Santa back out to present the team with the Premiership trophy on Saturday. With the home fans in party mode, he was welcomed with open arms this time around.

Further evidence that this league continues to provide patter on an unparalleled scale.