The Thistle Archive

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.

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.

bbc.com

Option 1: extended highlights, with commentary

Irvine Bhoy

Sky Sports

Option 2: short highlights, no commentary

SPFL YouTube

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