Celtic 4-0 Hearts: Victory sets new club record for league leaders

Scott Sinclair scored twice as Celtic set a new club record for domestic games unbeaten from the start of a season as they beat Hearts 4-0.

Callum McGregor's goal separated the sides at the end of a relatively tame first half in which the hosts dominated but took time to find a rhythm.

Indeed, it took until the latter stages for them to finally pull clear as Sinclair's double - the second a penalty - and a Patrick Roberts strike all came in the final 13 minutes.

Nevertheless, Celtic were worthy winners as they extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 22 points ahead of Old Firm rivals Rangers.

Hearts, meanwhile, remain fourth in the table, level on points with St Johnstone but ahead of them on goal difference despite their heaviest defeat of the season.

While this was ultimately a routine Celtic win, it took time for the first half to get going and it was a fairly flat affair overall.

Nir Bitton was heavily involved early on and Perry Kitchen headed his half volley over for a corner but the Israeli steered another effort wide from Sinclair's delivery.

Roberts then saw a curled effort blocked and Sinclair was flagged offside to let Hearts off the hook following some slack defending as the home team made the best openings.

Hearts offered little in response so when Celtic went ahead just before the half-hour mark their advantage was merited.

McGregor had been due to start the match on the bench with Stuart Armstrong in line to play instead but he was injured in the warm-up, with the 23-year-old summoned in his place.

He justified his late selection with a good finish, collecting Sinclair's inside pass before shooting past Jack Hamilton and in off the post.

For all that they were often on the back foot, Hearts could have gone into the interval on level terms.

Seconds before half-time, Malaury Martin's free-kick found Jamie Walker but having scored against Celtic when the teams last met in August, he steered a header over this time instead.

The lull which followed the opening goal continued well into the second period but while the scoreline was narrow, Brendan Rodgers' team always looked in control.

Christian Gamboa drove wide and it took a terrific last-ditch tackle from Liam Smith to stop James Forrest just as he got ready to shoot.

Roberts had another go to, again curling towards goal and this time seeing it go the distance but drop just a few inches beyond the far post.

It took until the closing stages for Celtic to make the points safe but once they extended their lead, they quickly pulled further away.

Sinclair made it 2-0 when Kieran Tierney's cross was cut out by Aaron Hughes, who then didn't react quickly enough to complete a clearance and he only assisted a scrambled finish instead.

Within three minutes it was three, Liam Henderson splitting two defenders for Tierney to hit the goal line and cut back to Roberts, who took one touch to control and a quick second to score.

Sinclair had scored 14 goals in as many games for Celtic by the time Lennard Sowah brought down substitute Jack Aitchison to concede a stoppage time penalty.

The former Swansea man took his chance to notch a first double for the club, however, and placed into the net emphatically to round off a comfortable win.