Celtic produce stunning fightback to edge five-goal thriller at Kilmarnock

Julian Araujo scored a dramatic last-gasp winner deep into stoppage time as Celtic claimed a huge three points in the William Hill Premiership title race by coming from two goals down to triumph 3-2 at Kilmarnock.

With Rangers and Hearts meeting later in the day, the Hoops were desperate to put the pressure on, but they were second best in the first half against a superb Killie side.

The in-form Tyreece John-Jules raced onto Joe Hugill’s flick and fired in the opener after 20 minutes and it was roles reversed minutes later as Hugill looped a header over Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel from a John-Jules cross to make it 2-0.

Half-time substitute Sebastian Tounekti’s brilliant curling strike halved the deficit before Benjamin Nygren poked home an equaliser with half an hour remaining.

John-Jules hit the bar for the hosts but the game appeared destined for a draw until Araujo fired home from Tomas Cvancara’s cutback in the seventh minute of added time to send the travelling supporters wild.

Killie started brightly, Findlay Curtis firing the first attempt of the game wide in the fifth minute, with Celtic’s Daizen Maeda next to go close through a curling shot which was well palmed away by home stopper Kelle Roos.

The opener arrived in the 21st minute as John-Jules raced onto Hugill’s deft flick and drove into the box. A poor touch seemed to have cost him the chance but, as Auston Trusty hesitated, he composed himself before slotting a precise low shot into the far corner of Schmeichel’s goal.

It was 2-0 just minutes later, as John-Jules returned the favour to his strike partner, digging out a cross with his left foot from which Hugill managed to engineer a looped header that somehow eluded the despairing Schmeichel.

Celtic looked for an instant response and nearly got it as Kieran Tierney’s inviting cross found Yang Hyun-Jun at the back post, but Roos scrambled over to claw the shot away.

The visitors’ best first-half chance fell to Maeda in the 27th minute when he latched onto a poor clearance and fired in a low shot from eight yards that was blocked by Dominic Thompson on the line.

Martin O’Neill made a triple change at half-time, bringing on Tounekti, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cvancara.

The game appeared to be drifting for the Hoops but they had a lifeline on 56 minutes as Tounekti curled delightfully into the corner from 25 yards with his right foot.

Killie were having to throw bodies on the line as Thompson blocked from Tounekti, and Brad Lyons from Oxlade-Chamberlain just after the hour mark.

Celtic did not have to wait long, however, as they equalised moments later. Killie failed to deal with an Araujo long throw, with the ball dropping invitingly for Nygren to flick it past Roos.

The hosts were inches from retaking the lead in the 75th minute as John-Jules curled a free-kick against the crossbar from 25 yards.

Then, with virtually the last kick of the game, Araujo fired high into the roof of the net after great work by Cvancara to seal what could be a vital three points for Celtic in the title race.