3 times Brendan Rodgers put Hearts to the sword

Celtic are getting ready to face off against Hearts at Tynecastle this weekend and Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have the most convincing record at that ground.

In the five games he has played at Tynecastle as Celtic manager, he has managed three wins and two defeats. The worst loss was undoubtedly the 4-0 hammering which signalled an end to Celtic’s record 69-game unbeaten record.

Despite that fixture we would all rather forget, there have been plenty of memorable games against the Jambos from the former Liveprool manager’s first tenure as Hoops boss. Celtic’s recent record at Tynecastle is impressive and Rodgers will be keen to keep to that trend this afternoon.

Hearts 1-2 Celtic // Scottish Premiership // 7th August 2016

Celtic took the lead early on in this encounter as James Forrest netted the opener from outside the box before the Hoops were let off the hook thanks to a stunning miss from former Celt Tony Watt.

Hearts found an equaliser less than 10 minutes before the break after a controversial penalty was awarded for a foul from Kieran Tierney (controversial penalty against Celtic? Surely not). Jamie Walker won the penalty and would be the man to fire the Jambos level.

It would be a late show on the day as, after only signing for the club from Aston Villa the night before, Scott Sinclair latched on to the end of a Leigh Griffiths’ pass to finish off a sweeping counter-attack and earn Celtic the victory.

Sinclair went on to a pivotal member of Rodgers’ invincible treble winners that season; his debut at Tynecastle being the perfect introduction.

Hearts 0-5 Celtic // Scottish Premiership // 2nd April 2017

Scott Sinclair was the man of the moment again at Tynecastle as Celtic secured their sixth league title in-a-row. At the time, it was the earliest a league title had ever been won in Scotland. That was peak Brendan Rodgers doing Brendan Rodgers things.

Sinclair scored a quick-fire double to put the Hoops two ahead before the half-hour mark.

In the second-half, Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts also netted to put Celtic four ahead before the hour-mark, but the scoring wasn’t over yet.

Sinclair netted a late penalty to secure his hat trick in a season where he was the club’s top scorer in all competitions.

Hearts 0-3 Celtic // League Cup semi-final // 28th October 2018

Scott Sinclair wasn’t done haunting the Jambos just yet, as he put Celtic ahead from the penalty spot at Murrayfield after Ryan Christie went down under the challenge over Oliver Bozanic.

Scotty Sinclair was such an important player for Celtic under Brendan Rodgers, and didn’t he just thrive against the Jambos?

James Forrest, whose exploits in Rodgers’ first tenure are often underrated, fired home a spectacular second in the 66th minute.

Christie was involved again in Celtic’s third, as his effort found the back of the net following a goalkeeping error from Hearts stopper Zdenek Zlamal. Christie’s strike secured Celtic’s place in the final to take on Aberdeen, who had defeated Rangers 1-0 in the other semi.

JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE