15th Sep 2017 Partick Thistle 2 Rangers 2 (SPFL Premiership - game 6)

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matches:2017-18: ← 11game 1213 →

Match Information

40y, 2m, 2d			Alan Archibald		Pedro Caixinha
Ryan Scully; Paul McGinn; Niall Keown; Miles Storey; Chris Erskine
Tomáš Černý; Milan Nitrianský; Stuart Bannigan; Kris Doolan; Conor Sammon
Blair Spittal (1-1, 50 mins); Chris Erskine (2-1, 60 mins)					Alfredo Morelos (0-1, 19 mins); Graham Dorrans (2-2, 77 mins)
none (1-1, 50 mins); Blair Spittal (2-1, 60 mins)					Ryan Jack (0-1, 19 mins); Declan John (2-2, 77 mins)
Paul McGinn; Niall Keown; Jordan Turnbull; Christie Elliott; Stuart Bannigan
Chris Erskine (@ 2-1, 67 mins)
Miles Storey (Conor Sammon, 80 mins); Blair Spittal (Stuart Bannigan, 82 mins)					Lee Wallace (Declan John, 12 mins); Kenny Miller (Eduardo Herrera, 56 mins); Ryan Jack (Carlos Peña, 63 mins)
24y, 10m, 17d			Ryan Scully		Wes Foderingham
26y, 10m, 24d			Paul McGinn		James Tavernier
26y, 3m, 20d			Christie Elliott		Fábio Cardoso
22y, 10m, 16d			Jordan Turnbull		Lee Wallace
22y, 5m, 10d			Niall Keown		Bruno Alves
25y, 0m, 8d			Danny Devine		Ryan Jack
26y, 8m, 8d			Adam Barton		Graham Dorrans former Jag
21y, 8m, 27d			Blair Spittal		Josh Windass
23y, 8m, 11d			Miles Storey		Daniel Candeias
23y, 9m, 29d			Ryan Edwards		Kenny Miller future Jag
30y, 7m, 7d			Chris Erskine		Alfredo Morelos
24y, 11m, 29d
20y, 0m, 9d			Jamie Sneddon		Jak Alnwick
24y, 11m, 29d			Stuart Bannigan		Declan John
30y, 9m, 4d			Kris Doolan		Danny Wilson
26y, 5m, 3d			Steven Lawless		Euciodálcio Gomes
26y, 9m, 2d			Milan Nitrianský		Eduardo Herrera
30y, 10m, 9d			Conor Sammon		Jason Holt
18y, 10m, 26d			Andy McCarthy		Carlos Peña

notes

Both sides generally in playing order. Originally scheduled for Saturday, September 16th, 2017.

Match Report

TTA report

An angled drive gave Rangers a half-time lead (19). Thistle levelled through a deflected Spittal free-kick (50) then he set up Erskine at the far post with a low cross (60). Erskine was red-carded (67). The 10 men defended strongly but a top corner strike (77) levelled things. A spirited, robust performance earned a point.

Media report

Jane Lewis, 15-Sep-2017, bbc.com

Stand-in captain Graham Dorrans rescued a point for Rangers against 10-man Partick Thistle in a pulsating match. Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos cracked home his eighth of the season to give Rangers a half-time lead. But a deflected, fizzing Blair Spittal free-kick and a Chris Erskine goal put the hosts in charge after 60 minutes. However, seven minutes later Erskine was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Morelos and paid the price when Dorrans curled in the equaliser.

Thistle began lively as they sought their first win over the Ibrox club in 24 years, but Rangers knew that a high-scoring victory would move them to the top of the Scottish Premiership. However, after 12 minutes they lost their captain Lee Wallace when he pulled up after his shot at goal was blocked. He was replaced by Declan John, who made his debut. Daniel Candeias and Morelos looked dangerous on the attack and it was the latter who broke the deadlock after 19 minutes, quickly despatching Ryan Jack's pass with an angled shot. Patrick Thistle did not let their heads drop and, but for slack play and poor passing, they might have made more of their possession. Jack was in evident pain after a challenge by Ryan Edwards, which did not appear to be malicious, and the Rangers midfielder was able to continue after treatment.

Early in the second half, Fabio Cardoso senselessly climbed all over Miles Storey just outside the Rangers box. Up stepped Spittal to deliver a wonderful strike which took a slight deflection off defender Bruno Alves on its way into the net. Thistle looked the more confident team and Spittal was again involved as the Jags went in front. James Tavernier played him onside as the rest of the Rangers defence came out, giving him time and space to knock the ball across the face of the goal for Erskine to slide in and score. At this point, Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha had already substituted replacement captain Kenny Miller for Eduardo Herrera, with Dorrans taking on the armband, and following the goal he sent on Carlos Pena for Jack. The game swung in Rangers' favour when Erskine's studs-up challenge on Morelos reduced the Jags to 10 men with 25 minutes to go. Rangers pressed with the extra man and they were duly rewarded when, after benefiting from an incorrect throw-in decision, John played a lovely ball for Dorrans, who curled in a stunning shot to set up a frantic finale. Rangers tried to make their extra man count but efforts from Pena and Morelos were kept out by Ryan Scully as Thistle held firm for a draw. The sides meet again in the League Cup on Tuesday. On Friday night's evidence, the cup tie should be a cracker.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald told BBC Radio Scotland he was "delighted to hang on for the point":

Mentally, it was great to hold on because we have lost a few late goals, especially when we were down to 10 men. I was disappointed in our first-half performance but delighted with our response in the second. We played a back three tonight to shore up the back, but it was more to get Erskine and Spittal on the ball, but we really struggled to do that. We gave away possession constantly and it gave us a lot of problems. [re the sending off…] I think it is a red. He takes an extra touch and loses control of it and those ones always end up red cards. He's lunging to get it and it's a striker's challenge, so we've no complaints with it. Chris Erskine can't tackle and we know that, but there's no malice. Apologies for the tackle and we have no arguments with the red card. We can go and build on it as we made a game of it. We're delighted for our fans that we hung on. It will be a different type of game in the League Cup on Tuesday.

Speaking to his club's website, Pedro Caixinha reflected on what he viewed as "a lost two points":

It was two great strikes. But we were coming here to win. We made poor decisions in the last third. We tried to reorganise the team for the second half and we committed two mistakes defensively. We lost a duel we should not have lost on the first ball, it got to another duel on the edge of the box and we were at fault. We then opened the wall and that was it for the equaliser. After that, we didn't understand what was going on, we needed to calm down, and then from one bit of bad positioning from the full-back who was too far away and not closing inside, they did a perfect cross in-between the defensive line and the goalkeeper to score. We think we lost two points.

Scrapbook

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The Sun, 16th September, 2017

Video Highlights

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Who put the ball in the Rangers net?

Chris featured at #24 in our Top 25 countdown here on The Thistle Archive →

CHRIS ERSKINE

15.09.2017 Rangers [h] D2-2 (SPFL Premiership - game 6)
Blair Spittal (1-1, 50 mins); Chris Erskine (2-1, 60 mins)

As Thistle played their fifth successive season in the top-flight for the first time in nearly 40 years, only the lack of wins against the Old Firm was preventing the feel-good factor from soaring to the levels of the late 1970s.

There were some near misses, and it was especially incredible that a win against Rangers had not been forthcoming, with leading positions having been surrendered regularly.

Under the lights, we looked to be heading for a famous come-from-behind League victory on Friday, 15th September, 2017, as goals from Blair Spittal and Chris Erskine put Thistle 2-1 ahead, but eventually had to settle for a share of the spoils when our sometime Pelé was sent-off after a mis-timed tackle, and Rangers made the extra man count, coming back for the 2-2 draw.

Still, it was simply marvellous to see one of Firhill’s most-loved sons get his first goal against Rangers, ghosting in at the back post to tap in an excellent delivery from the on-fire Blair Spittal, putting Jags 2-1 up.

Normally, Squiddy would be running to the Jackie Husband stand to celebrate; this time his JHS-bound mission culminated in a big sssshhh to the antithesis of Jagskind.

It’s all about those magic moments.

Legend!

Stats Watch

JAGS WIN A BATTLING POINT ON ARCHIE'S 200TH

● 108 years of tradition are broken as Thistle play their first game at "The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill", so renamed for sponsorship reasons.

● Alan Archibald reaches the 200 competitive games milestone at the managerial helm, becoming only the 7th man in history to do so.

● 26-year-old Paul McGinn makes his Thistle debut.

● Blair Spittal continues with the highly potent start to his Firhill career, his combined goals/assists tally now sitting at 9 in just 7 games.

● Chris Erskine's 67th minute dismissal means that that 9 of the last 10 red cards in Thistle's games have went to Jagsmen.

● Chris registers only the 10th known instance of a Thistle player scoring and being sent-off in the same game. Unbelieveably, it's the second game-in-a-row at Firhill in which this has happened, and on both occasions it was the match programme cover-star who was the hero and villain!

● Thistle go 27 competitive games without a win vs. Rangers (11.09.1993 to date), currently our longest winless streak against any side in competitive action.

● For the first time in history, Thistle go 23 League games without a win versus Rangers (11.09.1993 to date).

● Thistle's hard-earned point brings to an end a brutal H2H run of 14 consecutive League defeats.

ongoing sequences:

● 6 home League games without a win; 7th May 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 8 games; 27th Aug 2016 to 9th Dec 2016. Joint club-record: 15 games; 5th Dec 1908 to 11th Dec 1909 & 16th Apr 2013 to 1st Feb 2014.)

● 8 away League games without a win; 18th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 8 games; 29th Sep 2012 to 16th Feb 2013. Club-record: 26 games; 20th Mar 1935 to 29th Aug 1936.)

● 12 League games without a win; 15th Apr 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 12 games; 9th May 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 26 games; 28th Nov 1908 to 2nd Oct 1909.)

● 33 consecutive competitive appearances for Adam Barton, 28th Dec 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Kris Doolan - 39 games; 15th Oct 2016 to 5th Aug 2017. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 65 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (A new club-record.)

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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