Celtic vs Rangers. Scottish Premiership.
Celtic ParkAttendance58,348.
Saturday 10 September 2016 20:07, UK
A hat-trick from Moussa Dembele sealed an emphatic 5-1 Old Firm derby win for Celtic against 10-man Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon.
The former Fulham man came in for injured star striker Leigh Griffiths and made his mark, heading home the opener in the 33rd minute before adding a second 11 minutes later.
Joe Garner pulled one back for Rangers just before half-time, but the Hoops ran away with the game in the second half with Sinclair netting the third before Dembele completed his hat-trick in the 83rd minute.
Stuart Armstrong rounded off the scoring in added time to seal an emphatic win, with Philippe Senderos having already been sent off for the visitors in the 74th minute on his Rangers debut.
Celtic came racing out of the traps in front of their home fans, with Sinclair having his shot blocked by Rob Kiernan before Tomas Rogic struck his rebound wide of the post.
The Hoops found the breakthrough in the 33rd minute as Dembele latched onto the end of a Sinclair corner and, completely unmarked, headed the ball powerfully into the back of the net.
It could have been two minutes later as James Forrest's cross found Rogic in the middle, but his shot was parried by Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and nearly found Sinclair, but the ball was hacked to safety by Lee Wallace.
Dembele did find the net with his brace just before half-time as Nir Biton took advantage of a poor pass from Kiernan to slide in his team-mate on the right, who rounded Senderos and slotted home.
But Rangers weren't to end the opening period quietly, and grabbed a goal back in the 44th minute as James Tavernier's right flank cross found Kenny Miller at the back post. He then headed it across for the incoming Garner who guided the ball into the back of the net, cuing scenes of wild celebrations from Gers fans behind the goal.
The visitors made a change at the break - Andy Halliday replacing Niko Kranjcar - and were much improved, nearly grabbing the equaliser inside ten minutes but Barrie McKay's curler missed by mere inches.
Celtic were the next to strike though as they added a third in the 61st minute. Dembele raced forward and played in Sinclair - who was onside despite offside calls from the Rangers defence - with the former Man City man slotting home past Foderingham.
The Gers' goalkeeper was then called into a mighty double save as Stuart Armstrong powered an effort towards goal from 20 yards before keeping Sinclair out at the near post - although the offside flag was already up on this occasion.
Just minutes later, Senderos was given his marching orders for a second yellow in the space of 12 minutes. The first for a tackle on Sinclair before he handled ball in the middle of the park to culminate in a sending off with a quarter of an hour still to play.
And things got worse for Rangers when coach Davie Weir was sent to the stands after Mikael Lustig fouled McKay on the far touchline, seeing the Gers winger in a bit of bother.
Celtic dealt the killer blow in the 82nd minute as Dembele completed his hat-trick, latching onto the end of a Lustig cross from the right flank and slotting it home at the back post, receiving a yellow card for his enthusiastic celebrations with the fans.
And Armstrong was on hand to kill the game off in added time. Tierney cut the ball back to his team-mate who took a little run in the box before firing past Foderingham to seal Old Firm victory for the Hoops.
