Celtic 3-2 Partick Thistle
- Published
Celtic progressed to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals as James Forrest struck a hat-trick against Partick Thistle.
Forrest scored twice in the opening 10 minutes as Celtic raced into an early advantage.
Kris Doolan, in his 350th Partick Thistle appearance, replied following a defensive mistake by Jozo Simunovic.
Forrest completed his first treble after the break, and Conor Sammon struck a consolation in the closing minutes.
Before kick-off there was a minute's silence in tribute to former Celtic midfielder Liam Miller, who died after a battle with cancer aged 36.
Celtic held a minute's silence before kick-off in memory of Liam Miller
Thistle were in trouble within minutes of the kick-off, when a loose ball from defender Baily Cargill conceded possession to Scott Brown.
The Celtic captain instantly knocked the ball forward and when striker Moussa Dembele's shot was blocked by Partick Thistle defender Danny Devine, the ball spun to Forrest who stabbed it in from eight yards for his 14th goal of the season.
Forrest doubled Celtic's advantage when he picked the ball up on the halfway line and ran almost unimpeded to the edge of the Thistle box before checking and driving a shot past Partick goalkeeper Tomas Cerny.
Six minutes later the Thistle keeper denied Forrest a hat-trick when he stretched down to his right to tip the winger's drive round the post.
Celtic winger James Forrest doubled his side's advantage with a curling finish past Partick Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny
Yet for all Celtic's early onslaught, in the 20th minute, and out of the blue, Thistle were handed a lifeline.
Under no pressure, Simunovic, back in for the injured Dedryck Boyata, was woefully short with an attempted pass back to goalkeeper Dorus de Vries and from the edge of the box the alert Doolan lofted it over the Dutchman and into the net.
From looking down and out, the visitors were rejuvenated, but they found themselves two goals adrift again eight minutes after the restart.
Winger Scott Sinclair took a Kieran Tierney pass inside the box and cut the ball back for Forrest to squeeze a close-range drive past Cerny, despite three Thistle players in close attendance.
Partick Thistle striker Kris Doolan scored no his 350th appearance for the club
The goal deflated the visitors and Celtic continued their search for more goals. Dembele fired just wide from outside the penalty area in the 72nd minute before Sinclair drove straight at Cerny when he only had the former Hamilton keeper to beat.
However, again Thistle unexpectedly came back. With six minutes remaining, Sammon took a Chris Erskine pass and held off Simunovic before hooking a right-footed shot past de Vries and into the far corner of the net.
There was more drama in three minutes of added time, when a fine cross from Erskine almost fell for Ryan Edwards inside the six-yard box, but Tierney defended well before allowing de Vries to gather the ball on the goal-line.
Partick Thistle striker Conor Sammon scored a late consolation