Kelechi Iheanacho Wins Scottish Premiership With Celtic Before Ronaldo Secures Saudi Title, Sparking Social Media Frenzy

Celtic Football Club secured the Scottish Premiership title on Saturday, defeating Heart of Midlothian 3-1 at Celtic Park on the final day of the 2025/26 season to claim a fifth straight league championship under manager Martin O’Neill.

The result denied Hearts a historic triumph. The Edinburgh club had topped the Premiership table since September and required only a draw at Parkhead to secure their first top-flight title in 66 years. Instead, Celtic produced a dominant performance to overturn the situation and retain their crown.

The victory did not arrive without controversy. Earlier in the week, a VAR-awarded penalty in the 97th minute of Celtic’s match against Motherwell had kept their title hopes alive by the narrowest of margins — a moment that continued to generate debate among supporters after the final whistle on Saturday. Some fans noted that without that late intervention, Hearts would have been the side lifting the trophy.

Celebrations at Celtic Park were immediate. Celtic Football Club‘s official account posted: “The race is over. Champions… HUGE congratulations to Martin O’Neill and the Bhoys. CHAMPIONS AGAIN!”

Beyond the title race itself, the result triggered a significant wave of social media commentary centred on Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho, who joined Celtic after departing Leicester City. The focal point of much of the online discussion was a comparison between Iheanacho’s swift acquisition of silverware in Scotland and Cristiano Ronaldo’s continued wait for a league title with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Pro League.

One widely circulated post read: “Kelechi Iheanacho moved to Scotland and won a league title before Cristiano Ronaldo could win one in Saudi Arabia. Let that marinate. Senior Man for a reason!”

For Nigerian football supporters in particular, the title carried symbolic weight. Iheanacho’s departure from Leicester City — where his playing time had become increasingly limited — had been viewed by some as a terminal decline. Posts on X (formerly Twitter) referenced that context directly, with one user writing: “Iheanacho, a man Leicester City gave up on like leftover food, is lifting trophies in Glasgow. The club that thought he wasn’t good enough is currently mid-table. Everyone who writes people off early should watch this on loop.”

Not all reactions were celebratory in nature. A section of supporters and neutrals moved quickly to contextualise the achievement by pointing to the Premiership’s competitive structure. One post noted that no club outside Celtic and Rangers has won the Scottish top-flight title since 1994, with a user describing it as a “farmer’s league” given the historic dominance of the two Glasgow clubs. Others echoed that sentiment, framing the season’s apparent underdog narrative around Hearts as misleading given the structural realities of Scottish football.

Celtic’s fifth consecutive title extends one of the most sustained periods of domestic dominance in the club’s modern history. Martin O’Neill, in his role as manager, oversaw the successful defence of the championship despite what proved to be an unpredictable run-in. For Iheanacho, the medal represents a significant career milestone following his exit from English football, adding to a collection that already includes a Premier League title won with Leicester City in the 2015/16 season — one of the most unexpected championship victories in English football history.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, remains without a Saudi Pro League title since joining Al Nassr. The Portugal captain has been a consistent individual performer in the Middle East but has yet to guide his club to the domestic championship, a fact that social media users were swift to juxtapose with Iheanacho’s latest success.