Kelechi Iheanacho says his heart rate was going through the roof before he struck the penalty which gave Celtic a 99th-minute winner at Fir Park.
The substitute was handed the responsibility from 12 yards after referee John Beaton penalised Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson for handball after reviewing the incident on the pitch side monitor.
The Nigerian appeared to be the calmest man inside the stadium when he sent Calum Ward the wrong way to clinch the 3-2 victory which means his side now only need to beat Hearts to win the title.
Adamant he was every bit as nervous as every Celtic supporter behind the goal, Iheanacho said: ‘You don’t want to know what my heart was saying at that moment.
‘It was really high. I don’t know about the fans, but my heartbeat was really high.
‘I had a thing before I came up. I just said I’m going to go there (bottom left). I didn’t change my mind. The keeper was teasing me a bit, but I didn’t change my mind. I just kept my cool and went there.
Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates after scoring Celtic’s late winner against Motherwell
‘It was a pressure moment. I just needed to keep calm and focus and just put it in the back of the net.
“I think my team-mates fancied me to do that. But to be fair, anybody in my position would be scared of that moment. It’s now gone and we need to just focus on the next one.
‘It was big pressure and a big moment so I’m happy we got through that.’
A night of astonishing drama saw Celtic fall behind, battle back to lead then be drawn level on 85 minutes through Liam Gordon.
Despite playing over 200 games for Manchester City, Leicester and Sevilla, the 29-year-old said the finale at Fir Park was comparable with anything he’d experienced.
‘That game is up there. It’s one of the biggest moments in my career,’ he added.
Celtic’s victory sets up a gripping final day shoot out with Hearts arriving at Parkhead on Saturday knowing a draw will be good enough to claim a first title since 1960.
The Parkhead side have been playing catch-up since September but can now pull-off the most unlikely title win with a victory.
Asked what it’s going to take to get the desired result, the forward said: ‘It’s going to take for us to have this fighting spirit of winning trophies, fighting together as a team, working together as a team to win.
Iheanacho sends Motherwell goalkeeper Calum Ward the wrong way from the penalty spot
‘We’ve had that all season, so we just take that in on Saturday. It’s like a cup final, so we’ll give everything. And we’re at home, so we have to give everything to win and they’re a very, very strong side.’
Under Martin O’Neill, Celtic have now won six straight league matches for the first time this season and have bounced back strongly after a dismal loss at Tannadice in March.
‘Celtic is a massive club, so anybody that’s coming to it needs to know what’s expected of them,’ said Iheanacho.
‘It didn’t go well at the middle of the season, but we picked ourselves up and we fight to this day to take it to the final day of the season.
‘We’re happy where we are at the moment and we’ll fight on Saturday to see that we win.’
Despite now being one home win away from retaining the title, Iheanacho brushed off suggestions that O’Neill’s men are now favourites.
Iheanacho insists Martin O’Neill’s side are not favourites for the Premiership title
‘For me, in terms of the writers, what people think, they might think like that,’ he said.
‘But in terms of the football itself, it will be a really, really difficult 90 minutes. So, who comes out on top on Saturday will be the favourite.
‘It will be a massive moment for the club. Since this season, Hearts has been one of the strongest teams in the league. It’s going to be a very, very difficult game.
“It’s a title challenge game. They’re going to come out with everything to win the title. We need to be ready to face that.
‘It’s very important to have big players in the team at the moment who have won things before, so it’s very, very important to have them with us in the team.
‘I think the fans have been a very, very massive part this season, so we’ll need them one more time this season at Celtic Park to cheer us on and they’ve been doing that all season, so they’ll be massive on Saturday.’
