Partick Thistle 0 - 1 Celtic: How the players rated on each side

Ratings out of 10 for every player involved in Celtic's 1-0 win over Partick Thistle.

Ryan Edwards and Olivier Ntcham fight for possession. Picture: SNS

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PARTICK THISTLE

Tomas Cerny - 7

Made an excellent stop from James Forrest in the ninth minute and pushed away Nir Bitton’s free-kick a short-time later. Other than the goal, which he couldn’t do much about due to Scott Brown’s deflection, he wasn’t really tested, which is a testament to the way his defence played in front of him.

Christie Elliott - 7

Though his passing was a little erratic at times, he remained a willing out-ball moving forward from right-back whenever Thistle were able to get out of their own half. Should have notched an assist when Doolan somehow headed his cross clean over the bar. Did a good job keeping Sinclair quiet also.

Jordan Turnbull - 8

He made a couple of excellent challenges inside the penalty area to stop Celtic having a clean strike at goal including a perfectly timed sliding challenge on Callum McGregor as the midfielder charged into the box.

Niall Keown - 9

Turnbull was great, but Keown was even better. On so many occasions it seemed almost inevitable that Celtic were going to add to their 1-0 lead, only for Keown to throw his body in front of the goal time and again. A real gutsy performance in the face of unrelenting pressure.

Callum Booth - 7

Cleared two efforts off the line. He improved on the football, and in one-on-one battles with the opposing winger, as the game went on.

Stuart Bannigan - 4

His return from long-term injury has been a welcomed boost for Thistle, but he wasn’t at the races on Friday night. Gave away possession too easily, lost the physical battle with his Celtic counterparts, and wasted a couple of dead-ball deliveries. He’ll bounce back, but this was not one to remember.

Adam Barton - 5

Usually so composed on the football, the towering Englishman was guilty of giving away possession far too cheaply on many an occasion.

Ryan Edwards - 6

Buzzed around a lot in the midfield, but it has to be said he was swimming against the tide from the off, particularly with the two players beside him suffering off-days.

Steven Lawless - 4

Failed to cover Kieran Tierney, regardless of whether he tracked the Celtic full-back or not, and didn’t offer anything in attack.

Kris Doolan - 4

Admittedly he was starved of any service for the most part, but even on the rare occasions Thistle got themselves in good areas his usual instinctive movement seemed lacking. When a great chance finally presented itself, he wasted it badly.

Conor Sammon - 5

When asked to try and win some headers he did his job fairly well. When asked to link play with his feet, not so much.

SUBS

Miles Storey 6 - Gave Thistle a different option and looked more threatening than Doolan. Should’ve won a late penalty.

Chris Erskine 5 - Harshly dropped before the game but never showed much in his time on the park to prove the manager wrong.

Andrew McCarthy n/a - no time

CELTIC

Craig Gordon - 6

The Celtic keeper didn’t really have much to do aside from coming for a couple of crosses.

Mikael Lustig - 7

Lost a couple of headers to Conor Sammon. Other than that, he performed his role in the accomplished manner we’ve come to expect.

Jozo Simunovic - 8

The Croatian confidently dealt with any attack which came his way and contributed to the Celtic attack in the second half by striding purposefully out of defence with the ball at his feet.

Nir Bitton - 5

Should have conceded a last-minute penalty for a trip on Miles Storey after getting himself into a right mess in his own penalty area. This came after he should have been at fault for Thistle’s equaliser, only for Doolan to pass up a gilt-edged opportunity after drifting off the makeshift centre-back at the far post.

Kieran Tierney - 8

The left-back was one of Celtic’s better attacking outlets and never gave an inch to the opposition defensively. Unlucky not to score with a driving second half run and shot which saw him fire the ball just wide of the far post.

Scott Brown - 7

Aside from one wayward header which almost sent Storey through, the Celtic captain rarely wasted a pass and halted his fair share of Thistle attacks in front of the back four.

Callum McGregor - 7

Brought his usual energetic style to the tip of the Celtic midfield trio and won the free-kick on the edge of the area which would eventually lead to the opening goal.

Olivier Ntcham - 7

Appeared to get his first goal for the club after somehow managing to contort his body and send a superb volley towards the goal. However, it was deflected in by captain Scott Brown, so who knows whether he’ll get to keep it. Otherwise he was the epitome of composure in the centre.

Scott Sinclair - 6

Had a couple of good deliveries but otherwise it was a quiet game from last season’s Ladbrokes Premiership leading goalscorer.

James Forrest - 7

Once more he never looked comfortable playing as the No.9 and Celtic’s dynamism in attack again improved following the introduction of Leigh Griffiths. Was moved back out to the right following the striker’s introduction and his pace and direct running caused Thistle problems on the counter attack late in the game.

Jonny Hayes - 6

Went right at Callum Booth in the first couple of minutes, got a yard on the defender and whipped a decent ball into the box. He never kicked on from there though and drifted out of the match before being substituted.

SUBS

Leigh Griffiths 6 - Added a spark in attack but it just didn’t break for him in front of goal.

Tom Rogic 6 - Shot wide on a couple of occasions, once when it would have been better crossing for Griffiths.

Stuart Armstrong 5 - Looked somewhat subdued following his introduction.