Match ends, Celtic 2, Partick Thistle 0.
CelticCeltic2Partick ThistlePartick Thistle0
Goals from Stuart Armstrong and Kieran Tierney ensured Celtic returned to winning ways against Partick Thistle.
After a drab opening, midfielder Armstrong rocketed home a left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty box.
Odsonne Edouard went close after the break before Tierney combined with Scott Sinclair and slammed in a second.
The champions, whose 69-game unbeaten domestic run was ended emphatically by Hearts, climb five points clear at the Scottish Premiership summit.
Thistle remain two points adrift at the foot of the table, having won just three of their 19 league fixtures this term.
Backlash. Reaction. Whirlwind start. All pre-match cautions of what would be inflicted upon the lowly visitors after Celtic's hammering at Tynecastle.
Pedestrian was perhaps a more fitting appraisal of the first half hour, a combination of discipline and structure from Thistle and a slow, overly-deliberate start from Celtic.
That suited the Jags, who looked largely comfortable, other than when Kristoffer Ajer nodded Armstrong's fabulous delivery over from six yards, then Tierney's surging run set up Sinclair, who also fired his effort too high.
So far, so good for a Thistle outfit who have not won an away league match since March.
Their resistance was broken, though, by a touch of brilliance from Armstrong, the former Dundee United man looking more like the swashbuckling figure of last season.
The 25-year-old gathered possession on the 18-yard line and did what no-one expected, unleashing a sensational left-foot howitzer high across Tomas Cerny and into his net.
Celtic held that lead at the break, and the second period was more open, Thistle endeavouring to create and the hosts appearing far sharper, with Tierney perhaps their biggest threat.
Edouard, preferred to Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele as the fulcrum of the Celtic attack, had two chances to double the hosts' advantage.
The Frenchman struck the first from a central area but his connection wasn't pure and Cerny saved well to his left.
Sinclair then teed up the teenage striker, but Cerny was again well-placed to deny him.
Eventually Celtic made the game safe with some incisive interplay between Sinclair and Tierney releasing the tireless young defender and he blasted home.
Tierney had been inspirational throughout and deserved some reward for his display.
Dedryck Boyata ought to have added a third from close range late in the game, but by then Celtic were well on their way to re-establishing a five-point cushion at the top of the table.
Thistle meanwhile can perhaps take some heart from their first-half grit in what proved to be too great a task for Alan Archibald's men.
Line-ups
Celtic
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Gordon
- 35Ajer
- 23Lustig
- 20Boyata
- 63Tierney
- 8Brown
- 14S Armstrong
- 49ForrestSubstituted forHayesat 62'minutes
- 42McGregor
- 11SinclairSubstituted forJohnstonat 71'minutes
- 22EdouardSubstituted forGriffithsat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 9Griffiths
- 10Dembele
- 15Hayes
- 21Ntcham
- 28Sviatchenko
- 65Hazard
- 73Johnston
Partick Thistle
Formation 4-5-1
- 1Cerny
- 4Turnbull
- 5Keown
- 15DevineBooked at 53mins
- 11Lawless
- 16McGinnBooked at 87mins
- 19Edwards
- 24McCarthyBooked at 16minsSubstituted forErskineat 58'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 13BartonBooked at 44mins
- 7SpittalSubstituted forFraserat 73'minutesBooked at 86mins
- 39StoreySubstituted forDoolanat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 9Doolan
- 10Erskine
- 12Scully
- 17Nitriansky
- 18Sammon
- 20Nisbet
- 22Fraser
- Referee:
- Alan Muir
- Attendance:
- 54,187
Match Stats
Home TeamCelticAway TeamPartick Thistle
- Possession
- Home67%
- Away33%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away2
- Shots on Target
- Home7
- Away0
- Corners
- Home5
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away16
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Celtic 2, Partick Thistle 0.
Booking
Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Post update
Jonny Hayes (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Danny Devine (Partick Thistle).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Booking
Paul McGinn (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Michael Johnston (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Paul McGinn (Partick Thistle).
Booking
Gary Fraser (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Tomás Cerny.
Post update
Attempt saved. Jonny Hayes (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Post update
Attempt saved. Dedryck Boyata (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Substitution
Substitution, Celtic. Leigh Griffiths replaces Odsonne Edouard.
Post update
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Niall Keown.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Post update
Jonny Hayes (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
Tactical genius Rodgers is for beating a team which he has 100x the resources of.
No headlines about poor Partick and how Celtic's wage bill is 17 times theirs? That's what the Celtic loving media lackeys said when PSG humiliated their heroes.
Alan Archibald's response: "I don’t think there was any malice in it; he’s not that type of lad."
Typical generic guff that manager's come out with when defending their players.
Something not right. Just scraping by some teams they should have hammered and the CL campaign was poor
Must be hard to get motivated with the opposition in the SPL though
Still, they need shaking up
Big Pub Team that happens to be the first British team to win the European Cup.
They got absolutely hammered and humiliated.
"All they do is TAKE."
Really?!? So if Aberdeen, Hibs, etc. had bought Morgan from St Mirren would that also be taking or a good deal?!? If Celtic had gone out and spent £4M you'd be greetin about them having so much more money; so they can't win.
The mentality in this country is unbelievable at times; blame everyone else. Small minds = small ambitions = you get what you deserve
"No. Nobody will ever come looking for Celtic players, as they only have players who can't cut it elsewhere. "
Hmmmm, Victor Wanyama, Virgil Van Dijk, Fraser Forster.............Stick to what you know.......which appears to be not a lot!!