On This Day in 2016, Scott Sinclair made a dream start to life as a Celt. The winger, signed from Aston Villa, joined Celtic in the morning and was named straight away on the bench for the game against Hearts at Tynecastle later that day. The game was Brendan Rodgers’ first in the league and proved to be an extremely tough fixture to navigate for the Scottish Champions.
James Forrest gave Celtic a first-half lead as he was able to bend his shot into the corner beyond Jack Hamilton. However, Jamie Walker restored parity after he dived under the challenge of Kieran Tierney. The Hearts midfielder took the penalty before gesturing to the Celtic fans.
The game would be won by Scott Sinclair. The Englishman subbed on for Stu Armstrong and made an immediate impact. Sinclair started the move by knocking the ball into Leigh Griffiths’ path with the striker making impressive on Celtic’s left flank before dispatching an inch-perfect cross into the path of Sinclair, who made no mistake.
The player rushed towards the Celtic supporters and celebrated amongst them. It was a great day for the team and it got Brendan Rodgers his first win in the league as he would take a stranglehold over the Scottish game as Celtic would move on to win a Quadruple Treble.
The goal on his debut would help Sinclair become the first player in 94 years to score five goals in his first five games. However, Rodgers’ departure and the arrival of Neil Lennon saw Sinclair’s game time dry up and he was clearly out of favour with Lennon. In 167 appearances, Sinclair scored 62 goals as well as winning 9 trophies in his time in Glasgow.