Partick Thistle 0-4 Celtic: Brendan Rodgers’ side cruise into last four for Rangers showdown

Holders Celtic coasted into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals and secured a date with Old Firm rivals Rangers thanks to a convincing victory over Partick Thistle at Firhill.

Away supporters once again showed their displeasure at the Celtic board pre-match and at half-time, with the vast majority holding pictures of chief executive Michael Nicholson and non-executive chairman Peter Lawwell that suggested they should depart the club.

On the pitch, though, Celtic looked more than harmonious as manager Brendan Rodgers chases a fifth trophy win in this competition across his two spells, and goals from Hyunjun Yang, Liam Scales, Sebastian Tounetki and substitute Luke McCowan potentially brought it closer.

Partick Thistle were initially resilient but with their opponents looking in the mood from the off, it felt a matter of time before the opener arrived.

It did when Benjamin Nygren floated a perfect cross to the far post to Yang who, at first, seemed to have blown a wonderful chance. It was an optical illusion as his close-range header found the corner of the net after looping off a Thistle defender.

Minutes later, Nygren then cut inside and smashed the ball goalwards but Lewis Budinauckas did well to divert it behind for a corner. The second goal followed from that with Scales’ angled header to the top corner catching the Jags goalkeeper out.

Chances for the home side were rare. Slackness from Cameron Carter-Vickers handed Ts’oanelo Lets’osa one before the break but Scales did superbly to block.

The third was a joy of a goal on the counter and came quickly after half-time.

Reo Hatate did superbly to release Tounekti, who cut inside and dummied to shoot before combining with Kelechi Iheanacho and finishing emphatically.

A fine goal showing the winger’s end product and the recently-recruited striker’s technical ability.

Ben Stanway came closest to a consolation for the hosts with a header that Viljami Sinisalo comfortably diverted to safety, but a fourth arrived at the other end when Michel-Ange Balikwisha did well to win possession and fellow substitute McCowan found the bottom corner.

The outcome was never really in doubt as Celtic cruised into the last four.