Betfred League Cup quarter-final
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC…5
(Bayo 14, Rogic 46, Ntcham 56, 63, Sinclair 76)

PARTICK THISTLE…0

CELTIC booked their place in the League Cup semi-final in emphatic style as they dismantled Partick Thistle 5-0 at Paradise. Neil Lennon’s side produced a great display of attacking football that could easily have resulted in a further five goals.

Vakoun Bayo gave Celtic a 1-0 lead going into the break, and the Hoops pushed forward in the second half, with Tom Rogic scoring in his first start of the season. Olivier Ntcham scored an impressive brace before Scott Sinclair rounded off the five-goal thriller.

Celtic started with a good tempo from the kick-off and Thistle immediately found themselves under pressure. Jeremie Frimpong made his Hoops debut, and the 18-year-old was impressive in the right-back position. He released Lewis Morgan with a through ball down the right flank early on, and the Celtic winger chipped a cross in for Bayo but the Jags defence managed to head clear.

The Dutch full-back then burst forward himself and whipped a cross into the box that was blocked before it could find a team-mate.

Bayo kept the opposition defence on their toes with his movement in and around the box. The Ivorian rose high to get on the end of a lofted cross by Hayes from the left but his effort landed on the roof of the net.

He didn’t pass up his next opportunity, however, and put Celtic in front with a well-placed header from a Hayes set-piece out on the left.

Bayo’s aerial presence continued to trouble the Thistle defence and the Ivorian came close with two more efforts in the first half. The first was from Tom Rogic’s excellent diagonal ball in towards the far post, but the downwards header bounced over the crossbar. The second was a good cross in from Hayes which flew just over the crossbar.

Thistle's best chance of the half fell to Shea Gordon, but his drilled effort from 20 yards was well-saved by Craig Gordon.

Celtic started the second half well with an early goal. Bayo was the provider this time as he set up Rogic who placed the ball in bottom corner from the edge of the area.

It didn’t take the champions long to increase their advantage as Ntcham scored his first goal of the season in spectacular fashion. Elyounoussi rolled the ball inside Ntcham and the French midfielder teed himself up before launching a rocket of a shot into the top corner from around 35 yards out.

Ntcham’s quickly followed up with a second using a burst of speed to break away in possession from the halfway line. He dribbled into the box, cut inside and curled a low shot which went in off the inside of the far post.

Celtic’s dominance was far more prominent in the second period as they moved up a gear. The Thistle goal was bombarded with a wave after wave of attack from Celtic and Scott Fox made a series of good saves throughout the remainder of the game to keep the score from going into double figures.

Rogic cut inside from the right and had an attempted saved by Fox who then denied Sinclair moments later.

The Thistle keeper was let down by his defence for Celtic’s fifth goal. Bayo pounced on a stray pass inside the Thistle half and sped towards goal. He passed to Rogic who was denied a second by another save from the keeper, but Sinclair darted in to finish.

Late in the game Ntcham’s powerful side-footed effort drew a collective gasp from the fans as it flashed just over the crossbar to deny him a well-deserved hat-trick.

CELTIC: Gordon, Frimpong (Hendry 78), Elhamed, Ajer, Hayes, McGregor (Brown 62), Ntcham, Rogic, Morgan, Bayo, Elyounoussi (Sinclair 66).
Subs: Forster, Edouard, Bolongoli, Forrest

PARTICK THISTLE: Fox, Williamson, O'Ware, McGinty, Penrice, Cardle (De Vita 59), Palmer, Bannigan, Robson, Gordon (Cole 74), Miller.
Subs: Sneddon, Hall, Mansell, Kakay, Saunders

Website Man of the Match: Jeremie Frimpong

Five-star Celts book League Cup semi-final place