Partick Thistle 0-4 Celtic: Player ratings + talking points as fan protests continue but Hoops bring A-game to rout Jags

Holders Celtic swept aside Partick Thistle with the minimum of fuss to book their place in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

In the final quarter-final tie of the weekend, Brendan Rodgers’ side were aiming to avoid a massive upset and join St Mirren, Motherwell and Rangers in rubber-stamping their ticket to the national stadium in early November.

They did so in emphatic style with goals coming from four separate scorers - Yang Hyun-jun, Liam Scales, Sebastian Tounekti and Luke McCowan - to keep the Hoops on course to lift the trophy for a 23rd time.

Jags boss Mark Wilson - who won four league titles as a Celtic player as well as lifting both cup competitions - was just one of a handful of those in the opposition dugout with close connections the Scottish champions.

Frontman Tony Watt memorably scored one of the club’s most celebrated goals of the 21st century by finding the net against Barcelona back in 2012, while midfielder Ts’oanelo Lets’osa was a product of the Hoops youth academy.

Thistle came into the match in fine form, having won their last four games on the bounce. to leave them sitting comfortably among the Championship play-off spots.

Both sets of supporters unveiled pre-match tifo displays head of kick-off as the two sides took to the field. Thistle fans hoisted up a huge banner dedicated to their legendary former manager John Lambie, who passed away in 2018, while Celtic fans housed in the Jackie Husband Stand staged another anti-board protest.

Firhill was glowing with colour and noise and, on their first visit to Glasgow’s went end since the 2019/20 season, Celtic found themselves instantly on the front foot with the returning Kieran Tierney firing over the crossbar from distance within the opening minute seconds before skipper Callum McGregor drilled another shot over the top moments later.

The home side, content to sit deep and remain compact, were struggling to get a foothold in the game with much of Celtic’s bright attacking play coming down the left-hand side. Looking to build on his hugely impressive debut against Kilmarnock last weekend, Sebastian Tounekti was the visitors’ dangerman once again.

However, the deadlock was broken by the man on the opposite flank, Yang Hyun-jun after 25 minutes. Benjamin Nygren flighted cross towards the back post made its way to the unmarked South Korean international, who nodded home with ease followed by a delayed reaction from fans on the other side of the ground who thought the ball had hit hit the side-netting in the sunshine.

Things then quickly started to unravel for Thistle and it was 2-0 just three minutes later. Ex-Rangers keeper Lewis Budinauckas produced a smart stop from Nygren’s effort but he failed to keep pout Liam Scales’ glancing header at his near post during the next phase of play.

Celtic were rampant and looked in the mood to score more goals with teenage right-back Colby Donovan flashing over from the edge pf the penalty area before Reo Hatate dragged a shot wide from close range after being played through by Yang.

Few could envisage a way back into the tie for Partick Thistle but they were offered a glimmer of hope as the first-half drew to a close when Cameron Carter-Vickers dithered on the ball and was robbed of possession by Letsosa. However, his covering central defensive partner Scales made a great sliding block to spare the American’s blushes.

But that slither of hope was extinguished within 60 seconds of the restart as the lively Tounekti celebrated his first goal for the Parkhead club. The Tunisian wide man played a clever one-two with Iheanacho before coolly sliding a low shot into the far corner.

Budinauckas got down sharply to deny Iheanacho from 20 yards, which proved to be the former Leicester City man’s last involvement before being replaced by Daizen Maeda, with Paulo Bernardo and Michel-Ange Balikwisha also entering the fray on the hour mark.

To their credit, Thistle kept plugging away but to little avail with Ben Stanway passing up two half-chances after picking up promising areas in the box.

And the game was done and dusted with 10 minutes remaining when Balikwisha pounced on some slack defending before sliding the ball to fellow sub Luke McCowan. He drilled an angled effort beyond the outstretched Budinauckas into the far corner to wrap up their ninth victory on the spin against Thistle stretching back to April 2017.

Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points from the game and how the Celtic players fared:

Thistle fall short in bid to sting Celts

Partick Thistle famously enjoyed their greatest triumph in this cup competition back in 1971 when they beat Celtic to clinch the silverware at Hampden Park in one of Scottish football’s biggest shocks of all-time.

On that occasion, they famously raced into a 4-0 lead inside 37 minutes before Kenny Dalglish netted a consolation for Jock Stein’s side, who had been contesting the European Cup final 16 months earlier.

The Jags were attempting to end a winless run stretching 33 games against the Hoops, but the second-tier outfit never looked like threatening a shock here and were second best for the majority of the contest.

Hoops fans continue to berate board

It has been a period of discontent among the Celtic fanbase with loud grumblings aimed in the direction of the club’s hierarchy. Following on from their late-entry protest at Rugby Park last Sunday, the travelling support staged another banner protest ahead of kick-off featuring mug shots of several board members.

That was followed by another display midway through the second half aimed directly at Peter Lawwell, which highlighted a list of European games that Celtic have lost while the 66-year-old has been in post.

Tounekti and Nygren steal the show

With a trip to Serbia up next as Celtic prepare to launch their Europa League campaign against Red Star Belgrade, two of their summer signings - Nygren and Tounekti - proved just how valuable they are going to be for Rodgers’ side moving forward.

Nygren grabbed two assists and oozed confidence in possession, while Tounekti managed to build on his dazzling debut with another excellent display. It took the Tunisian barely a minute into the second half to notch his first goal in the green and white jersey and most of the visitors’ attacking threat came down the left flank.

Celtic player ratings

GK - Viljami Sinisalo (6/10)

RB - Colby Donovan (7/10)

RCB - Cameron Carter-Vickers (6/10)

LCB - Liam Scales (7/10)

LB - Kieran Tierney (7/10)

CM - Callum McGregor (7/10)

CM - Reo Hatate (7/10)

CM - Benjamin Nygren (8/10)

LCF - Sebastian Tounekti (8/10)

RCF - Yang Hyun-jun (7/10)

ST - Kelechi Iheanacho (7/10)

Subs used: Daizen Maeda (4/10), Paulo Bernardo (4/10), Michel-Ange Balikwisha (4/10), Arne Engels (3/10), Luke McCowan (5/10).