Scott Sinclair missed from 12 yards but was bailed out by Celtic teammate Ryan Christie as his winning goal sealed the Scottish League Cup against Aberdeen.
Celtic’s Scott Sinclair probably breathed an almighty sigh of relief once the final whistle rang around Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon.
The English winger saw a second half penalty denied by a brilliant save from Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis at the national stadium. Fortunately for Sinclair, however, Ryan Christie had already scored what turned out to be the only goal of the Scottish League Cup final at the end of the first 45.
It could have been a lot worse – just ask John Hartson.
The Celtic legend himself missed from 12 yards to condemn his side to defeat against Old Firm rivals Rangers no less in the League Cup final of 2003. And, speaking to the Evening Times, Hartson has admitted that he felt for Sinclair as he saw his penalty batted away.
“I missed a penalty in a League Cup final so I know how Scott Sinclair felt at Hampden when he watched Joe Lewis save his spot-kick,” Hartson said.
“Having missed the penalty, I felt responsible for the defeat and it was a real sore one to take. So I felt for Scott on Sunday when the score was 1-0 but it is one of those things that people won’t remember it now. The only thing you remember is that you won the Cup.”
Hartson is right. Few will remember Sinclair’s missed penalty with another trophy in the bag, the seventh domestic crown since Brendan Rodgers replaced Ronny Deila at the Glasgow giants back in 2016.
And there was certainly a degree of irony in Christie’s winner, given that he spent 18 months on loan at Aberdeen between January 2017 to the end of last season.
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