18th May 2017 Partick Thistle 0 Celtic 5 (SPFL Premiership - game 37)

matches:2016-17: ← 49game 5051 →

Match Information

39y, 10m, 5d			Alan Archibald		Brendan Rodgers
David Amoo; Chris Erskine; Steven Lawless
Niall Keown; Ade Azeez; Ryan Edwards
					Leigh Griffiths (0-1, pen 18 mins); Tom Rogic (0-2, 26 mins); Patrick Roberts (0-3, 41 mins); Patrick Roberts (0-4, 82 mins); Patrick Roberts (0-5, 84 mins)
					none (0-1, pen 18 mins); Leigh Griffiths (0-2, 26 mins); James Forrest (0-3, 41 mins); Scott Sinclair (0-4, 82 mins); none (0-5, 84 mins)
Tomáš Černý (Mark Ridgers, HT); Abdul Osman (Ryan Edwards, HT); Chris Erskine (Ade Azeez, 69 mins)					Dedryck Boyata (Kolo Toure, 63 mins); Leigh Griffiths (Scott Sinclair, 63 mins); James Forrest (Nir Bitton, 70 mins)
32y, 1m, 8d			Tomáš Černý		Craig Gordon
25y, 11m, 22d			Christie Elliott		Emilio Izaguirre
25y, 11m, 18d			Callum Booth		Scott Brown
21y, 7m, 6d			Liam Lindsay		Leigh Griffiths
24y, 8m, 11d			Danny Devine		Cristian Gamboa
30y, 2m, 21d			Abdul Osman		Tom Rogic
26y, 4m, 11d			Adam Barton		Dedryck Boyata
26y, 1m, 5d			David Amoo		Patrick Roberts
30y, 5m, 7d			Kris Doolan		Erik Sviatchenko
30y, 3m, 10d			Chris Erskine		Callum McGregor
26y, 1m, 6d			Steven Lawless		James Forrest
27y, 3m, 3d
26y, 9m, 9d			Mark Ridgers		Logan Bailly
23y, 4m, 10d			Ade Azeez		Kolo Toure
22y, 1m, 13d			Niall Keown		Nir Bitton
23y, 6m, 1d			Ryan Edwards		Scott Sinclair
18y, 6m, 12d			Neil McLaughlin		Anthony Ralston
20y, 2m, 10d			Kevin Nisbet		Kieran Tierney
18y, 6m, 28d			Andy McCarthy		Eboue Kouassi

notes

Thistle generally in playing order, opposition in squad number order.

Match Report

TTA report

Booth's challenge (18) led to a pen and Celtic (unbeaten domestically) scored twice more, Thistle chasing shadows. Lindsay headed straight at the keeper. Ridgers replaced the injured Cerny at half-time. Celtic slowed to walking pace but 2 more goals weren't unexpected. Defeat made it 26 winless competitive games v Celtic.

Media report

Chris McLaughlin, 15-May-2017, bbc.com

Champions Celtic are one game away from an unbeaten Premiership season after a dominant victory over Partick Thistle. Leigh Griffiths scored a penalty after Patrick Roberts had been fouled by Callum Booth. Griffiths turned provider for Tom Rogic's close-range finish and Roberts netted a stunning third before the break. Callum McGregor scored with a shot off the underside of the bar and Roberts then curled in his second. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers continued to rotate his squad but no strength was lost as the likes of captain Scott Brown and defender Erik Sviatchenko came in to give others a rest.

From the moment referee Andrew Dallas blew his whistle it was Celtic at their scintillating best. The swagger witnessed for most of this season was in evidence from a side that had at least four players who would not be considered first-choice picks. The wide men in particular gave the Partick full-backs a torrid evening with Roberts looking completely unplayable at times. The man on loan from Manchester City floated and jinked past defenders all night. McGregor and Brown provided the drive from the middle of the park - keeping the tempo high and their team-mates hungry. It was quite simply a side with complete belief in their abilities and evidence for anyone who needed it about just how far Celtic are ahead of the rest. The opener came from the spot - Griffiths with his 17th of the season after Roberts was brought down by Booth. The second was a rare scrappy effort from Rogic that bounced off both posts before nestling in the net. Roberts' brilliance was rewarded when he curled in the third before the break. It followed fine build-up play on the edge of the box. McGregor grabbed his fourth in five games as the clock ticked down in the second half. His effort smashed the crossbar and went over the line. The ball bounced out but the assistant referee called it in. Roberts cloned his first and made it five with just minutes left. It was a fitting end to his and Celtic's night.

Like so many before them this season, the home side were simply outclassed. They had a couple of chances in the second half but in truth Celtic were toying with them for long spells. In terms of the season, their work was already done and it looked that way. It's 46 games unbeaten in all competitions, 104 league goals and a current total of 103 points. The records just keep tumbling under Rodgers. The big one will be confirmed on Sunday if they can avoid defeat at home to Hearts at Celtic Park and become 'the invincibles'. A draw or a win will give them their biggest points tally in a 38-game league season, with the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen and the chance to complete a domestic treble following on 27 May.

Reaction

Speaking to the BBC, Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald accepted his side had been outclassed and said of the gap between Celtic and the other top-flight clubs:

It's huge and you need to get everything right to get anything off them. The worry is the gulf could get bigger. They were miles ahead of us tonight and they have been all season and miles ahead of most of the league. We stood off them and I think Celtic could smell that fear in some of our individual battles and if you do that against a good side, they'll certainly hurt you and we gave them a gift with the opening goal, which didn't help.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said Leigh Griffiths "forgot himself" after the striker appeared to question being taken off against Partick Thistle:

He is a brilliant boy. All strikers will be the same so he just needed a wee reminder that it is not about him, or any individual, this is about the culture of the team. For a minute he forgot himself. For a minute he thought about himself instead of the team. This is a team that is selfless. That's why I can change it about, the players know I trust them in their work. He was outstanding but he understood afterwards that I needed to protect him as the only fit striker at the moment. There is no drama. We matched 33 wins, which is the most wins in the history at Celtic. We go one behind in the record for goals. Now we're on to 104. So, we've got everything to play for. It was a joy to watch the team. Five special goals and, fundamentally, the players worked very, very hard. It was an outstanding team performance. If you go 38 games of a season [unbeaten] with all the games we've had, the level of games, perform like we have done then it's a truly remarkable achievement relative to the time that we're playing in.

Video Highlights

Option 1: extended highlights, with commentary

(credits: Irvine Bhoy / Sky Sports )

Option 2: short highlights, no commentary

(credit: SPFL YouTube )

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Stats Watch

RECORD LOSING RUN CONTINUES

● For the third time in his Thistle career, 'keeper Tomáš Černý has to retire, injured, in a competitive fixture.

● Sub 'keeper Mark Ridgers makes his competitive debut and becomes the 27th player to feature in competitive action this term.

● Thistle suffer a 13th consecutive home League defeat to Celtic (11.11.1995 to date), our longest such run against any team in history.

● Thistle suffer their biggest League defeat since a 0-6 home loss to Gretna back in September, 2006.

● For the first time this season, Thistle's comepetitive goal difference goes minus, with 53 goals for and 54 goals against.

● For the fifth time in competitive action this term, there are no yellow cards in the match.

ongoing sequences:

● 6 competitive away games without a win; 5th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 7 games; 9th May 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 25 games; 20th Apr 1908 to 28th Aug 1909.)

● 45 consecutive competitive appearances for Ade Azeez, 15th July 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 53 games; 9th Aug 2015 to 15th Oct 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 62 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (Longest run since the club-record: 62 games; 1st Apr 1911 to 7th Nov 1914.)

Stats Watch adheres to our stated definitions of League, League Max, Major Competitive, Competitive or All Games. Where there is no written qualification, you should presume that the Stat in question is compiled from the All Games criteria.

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