Hearts 1-2 Celtic: Scott Sinclair scores winner on debut as Brendan Rodgers' men edge thriller at Tynecastle

The best things come to those who wait. Celtic's pursuit of Scott Sinclair lasted a number of weeks, spawned four unsuccessful bids and finished up costing a sum of around £3.5million. In a frantic finale to a pulsating encounter at Tynecastle the chase paid off.

The former Aston Villa man had only been on the pitch 23 minutes as a substitute when he calmly tucked a precise Leigh Griffiths cross past Hearts keeper Jack Hamilton.

A suited Brendan Rodgers sprinted down the touchline, racing past the Hearts technical area before checking himself. The Northern Irishman changed his tactics late in the game to chase the win. 

Scott Sinclair made the best possible start to life at Celtic by scoring the winner against Hearts

Sinclair's £3.5m move from Aston Villa to Celtic was only finalised on Saturday

Brendan Rodgers was happy with the impact his new signing made at Tynecastle

Withdrawing a defender to bring on a midfielder it paid off the moment Sinclair, his move only finalised yesterday morning, was engulfed by the 1400 travelling fans behind the goal.

Rangers and Aberdeen were forced to settle for a solitary point on the opening weekend of the league season. On days like this a manager with a tactical eye and a new £3.5million signing make all the difference.

'It was an outstanding goal,' said Rodgers after his first league win as manager. 'You track the speed of his run and once he's breaking away it's that hunger and desire that you see from really good players to want to get up and join in.

'Leigh Griffiths has done great and then like great strikers, he knows where he wants to put the ball. Scotty has just checked his stride and got a great finish on it.'

Rodgers had been pursuing Celtic throughout the summer and finally got his man

Sinclair arrived in Glasgow for a medical on Saturday morning following an end to weeks of cat and mouse negotiations.

'He couldn't have asked for any more considering he'd had just three hours sleep on Friday night to travel up and had a long day yesterday,' added Rodgers.

'I've been looking to get him for a long time because I know the impact he can have. He knows how I work. He's super-fast and that hopefully will be one of many goals he can get.'

The outcome was hard on Hearts. A typically fast, frantic and utterly furious Tynecastle meeting of these two teams was evenly contested for long spells.

Rodgers said he had been after the former Swansea City winger for quite some time

As always there was rancour after. Celtic were unhappy with the penalty Jamie Walker won after throwing himself to the ground. Robbie Neilson felt his team should have had another when Kolo Toure charged towards substitute Robbie Muirhead in the second half.

Celtic had scored 27 goals in their last nine visits to this old ground and there was controversy, too, over the way they took the lead in eight minutes.

Callum McGregor skipped down the right touchline, cutting inside where he appeared to be tumbled in the area. James Forrest – looking more like his old self - didn't wait for the referee to intervene, curling a left foot shot into the far right hand corner of the Hearts net past Jack Hamilton.

Celtic had taken an early lead after James Forrest's (left) curled effort found the net

Television pictures showed Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong standing in an offside position. The rules say he was offside if he was obstructing the keeper' s view. Hamilton will surely argue he was.

Nevertheless, Hearts refused to wallow in self pity. Without a win over Celtic at their own ground in five years the Tynecastle side levelled with a deeply controversial penalty kick in 35 minutes.

Kieran Tierney was penalised for contact with winger Walker more imagined than real.

The Hearts player threw himself to the ground – possibly in anticipation of contact.

Hearts were back level before the break when Jamie Walker scored a controversial penalty

Referee Beaton could be excused the error. From his line of vision it looked like a spot-kick. Only with the benefit of television replays can we say with certainty he was conned.

Craig Gordon was booked for delaying the inevitable with his protests. Walker picked himself up and slotted a calm finish low into the net, earning his own yellow card for rubbing salt into the wounds of the Celtic supporters behind the goal.

It was a timely leveller, second after Forrest was denied a second by a Hamilton block. Dembele and Griffiths had also been denied by heroic goalline defending.

Yet Hearts were never second best. They were always in the game.

Tony Watt caused his former club a multitude of problems but missed a guilt-edge chance

One-time Celtic protégé Tony Watt partnered Connor Sammon up front and blew a wonderful chance to open his account in 23 minutes. Callum Paterson floated a cross to the back post where the Scotland international was unmarked. Somehow he screwed a header wide of the post. It looked easier to score. 

Minutes later there was a meaty, niggly encounter with Celtic's panto villain captain Scott Brown which ended in a petulant kicking gesture. He pulled back, but earned a booking anyway – to the howling derision of the Hearts support.

Watt's industry couldn't be faulted. Buoyed by their leveller Hearts pushed hard. In the seconds before half-time the striker tested Craig Gordon with a low drive the former Tynecastle stopper dived low to stop.

That Sinclair would put in an appearance eventually was inevitable. Rodgers spent long enough chasing his £3.5m signing from Aston Villa. He was never on the bench to soak up the atmosphere.

Leigh Griffiths spurned a few opportunities but did help set up Sinclair's winner

By the time he appeared on the hour mark Celtic could have been ahead again. Griffiths had another crack at goal, the chance teed up by determined play from the captain Brown on the edge of the area. With four goals in five games at Tynecastle Griffiths usually fancies it here. Unusually he didn't score here. But he did play a key role in the winner.

Stuart Armstrong was pulled from the field to accommodate Sinclair on the left flank. How fateful a move that proved.

Celtic might have taken the lead before they did. A fine John Souttar block prevented Dembele stroking Celtic into the lead from 12 yards before the winner. A low McGregor cross towards goal came from a quick Craig Gordon throw to the right-winger.

Rodgers changed Celtic's system in a bid to win the game and his decision paid dividends

It was now a cagier, tighter football match.

Rodgers changed that when he withdrew Eoghan O'Connell – a strong performer – from centre-back and threw on Tom Rogic to go three at the back and add another man to midfield. Not for the first time the Parkhead manager showed a tactical flexibility and adaptability rarely witnessed during the Ronny Deila rein.

'With 20 minutes to go, we wanted to win. We weren't happy with the point, so we took off a defender and moved young Kieran back in. We stuck on extra attackers and had a No 10 and two wide players joining in with the strikers, so we were really attacking the game.

'Then when we got the goal, we sewed the game up and saw out. It was a demonstration of the mentality of the players I was delighted with that.'