Partick Thistle vs Celtic; Scottish Premiership
Partick Thistle vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Firhill Stadium.Attendance7,238.
Partick Thistle 1
- S Welsh (85th minute pen)
Celtic 2
- L Griffiths (45th minute)
- C McGregor (54th minute)
Partick 1-2 Celtic: Ronny Deila's side remain a point clear
Sunday 13 March 2016 11:16, UK
Celtic remain a point clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after claiming a 2-1 victory over Partick Thistle in a Glasgow derby on Saturday.
The lunchtime kick-off at Firhill Stadium offered the Hoops the chance to move four points clear at the top and Ronny Deila's side showed no signs of nerves with Leigh Griffiths putting them in front on the stroke of half-time.
Callum McGregor doubled Celtic's lead early in the second half, with Sean Welsh pulling a goal back for Partick late on from the penalty spot.
Aberdeen reduced the gap at the top to a point with a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon, although the Dons have played a game more than Celtic.
Celtic came into the match having defeated Partick in their previous two league meetings this season and were also looking to record a 16th straight victory over the Jags in all competitions.
They started well in pursuit of that win and Partick goalkeeper Tomas Cerny was forced to push a Griffiths header behind for a corner inside the opening 10 minutes following great work from McGregor.
Celtic midfielder Kris Commons then lashed a shot over the crossbar and minutes later he turned provider for Gary Mackay-Steven, who poked his effort just wide of the target.
Celtic did not have it all their own way in the first half, with Liam Lindsay forcing Craig Gordon to parry his powerful 35-yard shot away to safety and the goalkeeper was called on again to deny Kris Doolan shortly after.
However, it was Celtic who went into the half-time break leading.
Mackay-Steven collected the ball on the left flank, took it to the byline before crossing for Griffiths and despite being off balance, the Celtic forward managed to take a touch before firing past Cerny.
Celtic doubled their advantage in the 54th minute when McGregor made the most of some free space on the right, skipping past the challenge of Danny Seaborne before placing his low shot beyond Cerny.
Griffiths, Colin Kazim-Richards and Nir Bitton all came close to making it 3-0 and only some wayward finishing and fine work from Cerny denied them doing so.
Welsh set up a nervy finale when he netted from the penalty spot in the 84th minute after Erik Sviatchenko was penalised for a shirt tug on Steven Lawless, but Celtic held on to claim all three points.
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