TWO goals from Daizen Maeda — one a spectacular overhead kick — and a Hyunjun Yang strike sealed a 3-1 win for Celtic over Rangers and kept the Hoops in the hunt for the title.
The hosts had fallen behind to a Mikey Moore goal after nine minutes but Yang's equaliser ensured the sides went in level at the break.
Maeda was a constant thorn in the side of the Rangers defence and his two goals to make it 3-1 were just reward for the Japanese forward, who has had a tricky season.
His spectacular second will live long in the memories of Celtic fans while it helped consign Rangers to a season without silverware.
"He was magnificent, absolutely magnificent from start to finish in the game," O’Neill said of Maeda after the game.
"First of all, the negative part of the game, closing players down, he's terrific at that, I don't know where he finds the energy from.
"But then his display — magnificent. He never gave the Rangers defence a moment to settle today."
Magical Maeda
Celtic fell behind early on when Moore pounced on Youssef Chermiti's blocked effort to fire home from close range.
Maeda had an excellent chance to level when he shook off Emmanuel Fernandez and had only Jack Butland to beat but he steered his effort wide.
However, the equaliser came after 23 minutes when Yang drilled home Arne Engels' cross following a smart run from the Belgian.
Benjamin Nygren then sent a header wide from Kieran Tierney's cross into the box as Celtic looked to add to their advantage.
Rangers continued to create openings themselves against a nervous-looking Celtic defence but the hosts withstood the pressure.
Meanwhile, Celtic looked dangerous on the counter attack, Nasser Djiga's timely intervention halting a four-on-two break from the hosts as they finished the half strongly.
Maeda acrobatically fires home Celtic’s third (Image: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images)Celtic continued in the same fashion after the break and Maeda was inches away from turning in Nygren's cross.
However, the Japanese forward got his goal moments later when he got in front of Fernandez to steer Tierney's cross under Butland after 53 minutes.
The Celtic fans had barely finished celebrating the goal when Maeda struck again, controlling a deflected ball before finding the top corner with a superb overhead kick from more than 12 yards.
Having not scored in 17 games since finding the net in a 4-0 win over Dundee United in January, Maeda now has six goals in his last four outings.
Far from resting on their laurels, Celtic continued to press for more goals against the shellshocked visitors.
Rangers eventually settled and both Chermiti and Djiga went close before substitute Bojan Miovski headed against the bar in injury time.
However, Celtic saw the game out to move within a point of league leaders Hearts.
'It keeps us in'
The return to form of both Celtic and Maeda comes at a crucial time with just two games left in the league.
On Wednesday, Celtic travel to Motherwell while Hearts host Falkirk and if both sides win, it means the title will go down to the final day when the top two meet at Celtic Park.
"The Motherwell game becomes absolutely immense for us now," said O'Neill.
"It was great to win, it keeps us in, it keeps us going.
"That's the point, it keeps us in, gives us a chance and that's all you can ask for.
"But that's what we've been doing for months and months."
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
See More: Celtic, Scottish Premiership
