BELTER SKELTER SETTLER
Stu special sets Celts on their way as Tynecastle trauma fades away
THAT’S why they sing their song. For Stuart Armstrong.
Celtic fans have their own little ditty for the midfielder which includes a line about him scoring belters all the time.
They were bang on because, just when the Hoops needed reassurance and to reinvigorate themselves after the shock of losing a Premiership game, Armstrong stepped forward and did just what the punters say he does.
In the end, Brendan Rodgers’ team coasted past Partick Thistle and re-established a five-point lead at the summit ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with Aberdeen.
But it was Armstrong who broke the shackles and set them on their way with a special strike 10 minutes from the break.
Not content with that, he played his part in the move which saw Kieran Tierney secure the success midway through the second period and bring winning normality back to Celtic’s life under Rodgers.
The manager had demanded a response. That the weekend loss to Hearts was a signal to press the reset button. He got his three points and, perhaps more importantly after the four-goal Hearts debacle, a clean sheet.
Thistle remain stuck at the bottom, two points adrift of Ross County. It was always going to be a difficult ask to get anything.
Alan Archibald’s team were initially resolute, yet eventually broken.
Frustration typified by substitute Gary Fraser recklessly smashing a ball into the home crowd in the closing stages to get yellow carded and spark an angry response from Celtic on the pitch and in the stands.
These are tough times for Thistle and nerve needs to be held but the Jags boss has been here before.
It’s also a familiar place for Rodgers. Top of the tree. And, as Celtic made it two years without a home domestic loss, the misery of Gorgie was banished.
The first half certainly wasn’t wonderful but the Hoops managed to eke out a lead from it.
Celtic must have been stung by their Tynecastle turmoil. It was savage and there was some expectation of them bursting out with all guns blazing. Instead, the approach was measured and laced with patience.
As you would imagine, there were piles of possession. Keeping it simple. Ticking it over. Thistle were to be worn down as opposed to blown away.
Rodgers had shuffled it. Kristoffer Ajer replaced the injured Jozo Simunovic at centre-back, Armstrong took Olivier Ntcham’s place in the engine room and Odsonne Edouard got the nod ahead of Leigh Griffiths.
Two of the trio created the first real opportunity. The inswinging freekick from Armstrong was perfect for Ajer but the Norwegian kid miscued his header and it dropped over.
Tierney burst into an attacking area to have a pop with his weaker right peg but Thistle keeper Tomas Cerny’s first save of the night was comfortable.
Archibald knew Celtic might be a little wary and his team contained through that critical beginning.
Steven Lawless and Andrew McCarthy went into the team which lost at Dundee, replacing Conor Sammon and Martin Woods.
Young McCarthy was getting as close to Scott Brown as he could and gave an indication of their competitive edge by leaving one on the home skipper to earn a booking.
Jags striker Miles Storey tried to play on the shoulder of Dedryck Boyata and Ajer, looking to spring when the ball was nicked, yet wandered into offside positions too often. Nevertheless, Thistle were dogged as, and Celtic’s front three of Edouard, James Forrest and Scott Sinclair struggled to find a spark, they had settled well by the half-hour.
While in control Celtic were still hunting a thrust, a real incision. It would come before the break. Perhaps Sinclair sensed he had to offer more when he cut inside before swirling a bending right-foot effort just over Cerny’s bar from 25 yards.
Mikael Lustig, less potent in similar situations, had poked one over the same bar just prior to that.
But, if you believe in third-time lucky, you should have been at Parkhead because the next time a shooting opportunity presented itself on the left side of the box, Armstrong certainly didn’t waste it.
Taking a short pass from Tierney, he drove into the area. Niall Keown was happy enough to let him have a crack with his left peg but that was a mistake as the midfielder rifled a special into Cerney’s top left-hand corner.
It was a moment of inspiration and justification for the approach. Rodgers trusting that one of his troops would produce individually and step up to the
plate. And at the same time, it was enough to get Celtic into the interval with the advantage. From a position of strength, Celtic were in the right place to kick-on after the break.
Tierney fired a ball across the face of goal begging to be netted. Little wonder he threw his arms in the air when no one accepted the invite. He would show them later how to do it.
Thistle just couldn’t muster a revival. With the hour in sight and the game still in reach, Archibald put Chris Erskine on for McCarthy. Kris Doolan would soon follow him for the rapidly tiring Storey.
However, these guys didn’t get a sniff at goal. The chances just flowed at the other end. Edouard had a couple to finish it before Tierney finally did the business.
The Jags partially cleared an Armstrong cross and, although the striker’s volley was on target, Cerny pushed it away.
The Frenchman’s next effort was better, glancing a strike from Sinclair’s sharp cutback, but again the Thistle No.1 had the required response.
Cerny, though, could do nothing about the clincher when Tierney struck.
It was an intricate move. Armstrong on to the full-back who played a one-two with Sinclair inside the box before firing his shot high into the net. It was just seconds before the Parkhead crowd rose as one in the 69th-minute to applaud Celtic’s record-breaking run. Boyata and sub Griffiths came close to a third but a new run is now under way, kick-started by another one of Armstrong’s belters.