Match ends, Partick Thistle 0, Hibernian 1.
Partick Thistle 0-1 Hibernian
- From the section Football
Hibs moved up to fifth place in the Scottish Premiership thanks to a sixth goal of the season from Liam Craig.
The midfielder arrowed a first-time shot into the top corner from 16 yards on 69 minutes at Firhill.
Partick Thistle striker Kris Doolan headed narrowly over and wasted a one-on-one opportunity with a tame shot straight at Ben Williams.
The Hibs keeper then kept out a close-range effort from Christie Elliot and tipped away a Ross Forbes shot.
Craig's impressive finish was just Hibs' eighth goal in nine league outings, pushing the Edinburgh side level on 14 points with fourth-placed Aberdeen.
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The defeat means the Jags are still without a victory at home in the Premiership and have gone six games since their last win.
Four minutes into the match the hosts earned an indirect free-kick on the visitors' six yard line after Williams collected a back-pass, but Sean Welsh's powerful drive was blocked by Michael Nelson.
Moments later, Thistle keeper Scott Fox had to rely on some deft footwork to prevent Paul Heffernan latching onto a long ball.
Stuart Bannigan fired a ball into the Hibs penalty area for Kallum Higginbotham to run onto, but Paul Hanlon made a surgically-precise tackle to clear the danger.
Soon after, Higginbotham drilled in a 25-yard half-volley that Williams did well to contain.
Hibs' best chance of the first period came from a Heffernan shot from the edge of the Thistle penalty area that drifted two yards wide of Fox's right-hand post.
As the interval neared, Thistle full-back Stephen O'Donnell raced down the right and curved in a cross that Doolan leapt to meet, but his header flew just too high.
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Five minutes after the restart, Doolan was allowed to race onto O'Donnell's long ball, but the striker could not take advantage of a free run at goal as his shot was comfortably saved by Williams.
Welsh had a penalty claim waved away by referee Kevin Clancy and Higginbotham should have done better with a shot that cut across the Hibs penalty area.
However, it was the visitors who finally opened the scoring in the 69th minute when substitute Abdellah Zoubir cut the ball across the 18-yard line for Craig to blast high into the net.
With 10 minutes remaining, a corner for Thistle drifted across the face of goal, but no Jags jerseys were on hand to profit.
The home side kept pressing and Elliot's shot from six yards was stopped by the foot of Williams at full-stretch.
The Hibs captain had to get back to his feet quickly and was alert enough to spring up to his left and push away a 20-yard strike from Forbes.
The same player was over a free-kick in added-on time but delivered something of an anti-climax for the home fans, the ball sailing over the bar and with it any hope of salvaging a point.
Line-ups
Partick Thistle
- 1Fox
- 5Muirhead
- 2O'Donnell
- 3Sinclair
- 6Balatoni
- 11LawlessSubstituted forElliottat 64'minutes
- 4WelshBooked at 78mins
- 19Osbourne
- 8BanniganSubstituted forBairdat 73'minutes
- 23HigginbothamSubstituted forForbesat 79'minutes
- 9Doolan
Substitutes
- 13Rojo de la Vega
- 17Baird
- 12Gallacher
- 10Forbes
- 14Elliott
- 22Fraser
- 7Craigen
Hibernian
- 1Williams
- 4Hanlon
- 3McGivern
- 5Nelson
- 16StevensonBooked at 90mins
- 10Craig
- 20TaiwoSubstituted forZoubirat 63'minutes
- 8RobertsonSubstituted forStantonat 90'minutes
- 38Thomson
- 24Heffernan
- 14CollinsSubstituted forTudur-Jonesat 63'minutes
Substitutes
- 26Stanton
- 17Tudur-Jones
- 22Mullen
- 21Murdoch
- 9Vine
- 6McPake
- 27Zoubir
- Referee:
- Kevin Clancy
- Attendance:
- 4,521
Match Stats
Home TeamPartick ThistleAway TeamHibernian
- Possession
- Home52%
- Away48%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away6
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away3
- Corners
- Home12
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home14
- Away11
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 0, Hibernian 1.
Attempt missed. Ross Forbes (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Booking
Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian) is shown the yellow card.
Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian).
Foul by Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle).
Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution
Substitution, Hibernian. Samuel Stanton replaces Scott Robertson.
Foul by Stephen O'Donnell (Partick Thistle).
Liam Craig (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Lewis Stevenson.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Lewis Stevenson.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Ben Williams.
Attempt saved. Ross Forbes (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner.
Attempt saved. Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Ross Forbes (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Owain Tudur-Jones (Hibernian).
Attempt saved. Abdellah Zoubir (Hibernian) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Foul by Christie Elliott (Partick Thistle).
Kevin Thomson (Hibernian) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Ross Forbes replaces Kallum Higginbotham.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Ryan McGivern.
John Baird (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Owain Tudur-Jones (Hibernian).
Hand ball by Scott Robertson (Hibernian).
Booking
Sean Welsh (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card.
Kevin Thomson (Hibernian) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Sean Welsh (Partick Thistle).
Attempt missed. John Baird (Partick Thistle) header from the left side of the six yard box is too high.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Lewis Stevenson.
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. John Baird replaces Stuart Bannigan.
Attempt saved. Paul Heffernan (Hibernian) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Goal!
Goal! Partick Thistle 0, Hibernian 1. Liam Craig (Hibernian) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Abdellah Zoubir.
Attempt missed. Kallum Higginbotham (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Christie Elliott replaces Steven Lawless.
Substitution
Substitution, Hibernian. Abdellah Zoubir replaces Tom Taiwo.
Substitution
Substitution, Hibernian. Owain Tudur-Jones replaces James Collins.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Paul Hanlon.
Corner, Partick Thistle. Conceded by Lewis Stevenson.
