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Review
Thistle were under siege early on and Celtic had claims for a penalty rejected by Kenny Clark when Sutton went down in the box under the challenge of Kevin McGowne.
But Celtic took the lead when Larsson's shot was blocked, McNamara drilled the ball through a crowded goalmouth and Sutton stretched to divert the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
Celtic goalkeeper Magnus Hedman looked far from convincing when put under pressure, but the Sweden international was alert in the 20th minute to save David Rowson's 25-yard drive low to his right before Archibald fired just wide.
Thistle contributed to their own problems and David Lilley's poor clearance fell straight to Sutton, who coolly curled the ball into the bottom corner for the second goal after 33 minutes.
Sutton should have completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute, when Larsson dummied Lennon's pass but the English striker spooned the ball over from eight yards.
Teams
Partick Th:-
Arthur, Lilley, Archibald, McGowne, Craigan, Paterson, Rowson, Milne, Hardie, Britton, Burns.
Subs:- Budinauckas, Waddell, Buchan, Walker, Gibson.
Celtic:-
Hedman, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, Agathe, McNamara, Lennon (Healy 87), Petrov, Smith, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs not used:- Broto, Guppy, Maloney, Crainey.
Goals:- Sutton 7, 33.
Booked:- Petrov.
Att:- 7,119
Ref:- K Clark.
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
- Match Report (BBC)
- O'Neill defends Celtic style.
Pictures
Articles
Sutton double blunts Thistle
BBC
Partick Thistle 0-2 Celtic
Chris Sutton marked his return to the Celtic attack with a clinical first-half double that ensured victory in Sunday's Glasgow derby at Firhill.
Victory restored Celtic's three-point deficit with league leaders Rangers, who had defeated Aberdeen on Saturday.
Sutton has spent much of the season in midfield as manager Martin O'Neill made room for Welsh international striker John Hartson.
But, with Hartson out injured, Sutton went some way to proving that he remains the best foil for Henrik Larsson up front with two goals that effectively ended Partick Thistle's challenge within 33 minutes.
Hartson had failed to recover from a knee injury as O'Neill made three changes from the side that defeated Dundee United in midweek.
Johan Mjallby has been ruled out for a month after his midweek injury, so Jackie McNamara and Ulrik Laursen came in.
Northern Ireland midfielder Neil Lennon made his first start for the champions since suffering a knee injury against Celtic Vigo on 12 December and replaced Scotland international Paul Lambert.
Partick manager John Lambie made just one change from the team that lost at home to Livingston in midweek, with new signing Ian Ross missing out through injury and being replaced by Kenny Milne.
Thistle were under siege early on and Celtic had claims for a penalty rejected by Kenny Clark when Sutton went down in the box under the challenge of Kevin McGowne.
But the visitors took the lead when Larsson's shot was blocked, McNamara drilled the ball through a crowded goalmouth and Sutton stretched to divert the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
Celtic goalkeeper Magnus Hedman looked far from convincing when put under pressure, but the Sweden international was alert in the 20th minute to save David Rowson's 25-yard drive low to his right before Archibald fired just wide.
Thistle contributed to their own problems and David Lilley's poor clearance fell straight to Sutton, who coolly curled the ball into the bottom corner for the second goal after 33 minutes.
Larsson was inches away from making it three moments later when he fired a right-foot free-kick just past the post from 23 yards.
Sutton should have completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute, when Larsson dummied Lennon's pass but the English striker spooned the ball over from eight yards.
Milne almost gave the home side some hope two minutes later, when he spotted Hedman off his line only for his audacious lob to land on the roof of the net.
Partick: Arthur, Lilley, Archibald, McGowne, Craigan, Paterson, Rowson, Milne, Hardie, Britton, Burns. Subs: Budinauckas, Waddell, Buchan, Walker, Gibson.
Celtic: Hedman, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, Agathe, McNamara, Lennon, Petrov, Smith, Larsson, Sutton. Subs: Broto, Guppy, Maloney, Healy, Crainey.
Referee: K Clark.
O'Neill defends Celtic style
BBC
Martin O'Neill believes that Sunday's victory over Partick Thistle again proved wrong those who say his side do not play attractive football in the Celtic tradition.
And the Celtic manager said that his team were "confident and buoyant" ahead of Thursday's CIS Cup semi-final against Dundee United.
O'Neill has been annoyed by criticism of recent performances, including the midweek league victory over United, by some supporters and parts of the media.
But, following the 2-0 victory at Firhill, O'Neill enthused: "I thought we were fantastic in the first half and played really really well.
We still played some fantastic one-touch football today
Celtic boss Martin O'Neill
"It was a wee bit like the first half on Wednesday evening, when I thought we played some wonderful football then did not get into any kind of groove in the second half.
"But we still played some fantastic one-touch football today."
Chris Sutton scored two first-half goals after moving forward from midfield to renew his partnership with Henrik Larsson in the absense of the injured John Hartson.
O'Neill sidestepped suggestions that Sutton was the better partner for Larsson.
"John Hartson has only scored about 40 or 50 goals in the 25 minutes he has been here," he joked.
Sutton double blunts Thistle
"It is just great to have three such good strikers."
O'Neill had brought back Neil Lennon into midfield in place of Paul Lambert and the manager described the Northern Ireland international's performance as "exceptional".
Even so, he picked out wing-back Didier Agathe as his star man.
"There might be one or two changes on Thursday, but we still want to win the game and reach the final," said O'Neill.
It is an absolute disgrace
Partick boss John Lambie
Thistle boss John Lambie was left raging with his side's defending.
"The first goal, the boy's tapped the ball in from inside the six-yard box," he said.
"The ball came from outside the 18-yard box. Why did we not push up?
"It is an absolute disgrace. I feel we have been defending too deep."
However, Lambie was not panicking about being dragged into a potential relegation battle.
He believes that his new signings and players returning from injury require more games to find full fitness.