THE standing ovation rippled around Celtic Park in the 69th minute, not in recognition of this low-key display against Partick Thistle but the 18 months which preceded it.
The question in the wake of Sunday’s humbling against Hearts was how Celtic would respond to their first defeat in 70 domestic matches but the bad news for the rest of the Ladbrokes Premiership table is that this was pretty much business as usual.
While a diligent display from their Glasgow rivals made for a flat first half, from the moment Stuart Armstrong swept in a fine left foot strike just before half time, a second successive defeat for the Scottish champions was never on the cards.
And by the time Kieran Tierney had worked a one-two with Scott Sinclair and smashed in the second, they were almost back to their invincible selves. They will be five points ahead of Aberdeen when the Pittodrie side visit this Saturday. A new unbeaten run begins, and even the longest sequences have to start somewhere.
Celtic fans have a song they like to sing about Armstrong. It mentions that the midfielder’s ‘hair is fine’ and he ‘scores belters all the time’ but those lyrics have really only been half true this season. The beauty which the 25-year-old steered into the top corner last night to punish a hesitant Partick Thistle defence might have pushed Celtic out of their early lethargy but it was worth mentioning that it was only his fourth for the club this season, and his first since early September. Let's just say he is good enough to do it more often and has a fair way to go if he is to reach last season’s levels of 17.
The kind of night where football was a welcome distraction from Christmas shopping, the public address announcer was doing his best to drum up some enthusiasm – he urged the fans to welcome the ‘history-making treble champions of Scotland’ – but Celtic Park still seemed to be in a state of shellshock at kick-off following the events of Sunday. Marvin Compper, Celtic’s own bit of Christmas shopping from Red Bull Leipzig, gave the fans a wave at half-time (he actually got soaked by a sprinkler as he did the half-time draw) but there is nothing he can do about anything until after the winter break.
Read more: Marvin Compper speaking Celtic's language as he sets sights on silverware
Brendan Rodgers had no shortage of candidates when he considered who to drop from Sunday’s encounter, but he made just three changes. There was no sign of Jozo Simunovic in the matchday squad, ostensibly due to a knock, with Armstrong in for Olivier Ntcham and Odsonne Edouard perhaps a surprise starter up front ahead of both Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele. This last one could either be read as the Northern Irishman being keen to give the young Frenchman enough matches for him to form a thorough assessment, or a fairly withering comment on his two more established strikers’ recent contributions. Or perhaps a bit of both.
This is a winter of discontent for Partick Thistle and their manager Alan Archibald, in whom the club’s board have shown admirable patience. With the likes of Christie Elliott and Abdul Osman out injured, Archibald could have done without losing Martin Woods to illness on the morning of the game. Thistle got a draw at this venue last season – they may have ended Celtic’s invincible run much earlier were it not for a late missed chance by Ade Azeez – and they succeeded in frustrating Celtic in the opening half here too.
Whether it was the home side’s wearying first half of the campaign – this was their 35th match, with still Aberdeen, Dundee and Rangers to come before the winter break in Dubai – or Thistle’s clever shape, with young Andrew McCarthy deployed directly against Scott Brown, a rather regular fact of life for the Celtic captain these days, the Parkhead side were laboured here. Kristoffer Ajer couldn’t direct a header downward and Kieran Tierney scuffed a right foot effort wide before Scott Sinclair sent a curling effort wide from a similar position.
Armstrong’s goal changed all that, though, and the sight of Tierney celebrating his second allowed Celtic to relax. With substitutes Griffiths and Mikey Johnston looking lively, Edouard - who was defied twice by Tomas Cerny - and then Boyata went close to adding to Celtic’s tally but instead the match ended on a rather sour note. Partick substitute Gary Fraser lashed a ball away in frustration directly into the Celtic supporters, who were understandably rather displeased by the action. While he attempted to apologise after the final whistle, this was not before the incident led to a rather tousled conclusion to this match, which saw the visitors end with six players booked. It was all a bit much for what is meant to be a time of peace and goodwill to all men.
Celtic (4-2-3-1): Gordon; Lustig, Boyata, Ajer, Tierney; Brown, Armstrong; Forrest (Hayes 62), McGregor, Sinclair (Johnston 71); Edouard
Subs not used: Hazard, Dembele, Ntcham, Sviatchenko
Partick Thistle (4-4-1-1)
Cerny; McGinn, Keown, Devine, Turnbull; Edwards, Barton; Spittal, McCarthy (Erskine 58), Lawless; Storey (Doolan 65)
Subs not used: Scully, Nitrianksy, Sammon, Nisbet
Booked: Partick: McCarthy 16, Barton 44, Devine 53, Fraser 87, McGinn 87, Erskine 90
Referee: A Muir
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