Sylla spot on as Celtic survive scare to end Partick's brave bid to turn back clock

Celtic 1 Partick Thistle 1 aet; score at 90min 1-1; Celtic win 5-4 on penalties

Celtic survived a massive scare at Parkhead last night as they were forced to endure a taut penalty shoot-out before progressing to the semi-finals of the CIS Insurance Cup.

Martin O'Neill's side were facing an ignominious exit, almost on a par with the humiliation inflicted by Inverness Caledonian Thistle 32 months ago that cost the manager's predecessor, John Barnes, his job. O'Neill was poised to suffer the same fate if the Partick Thistle substitute Kenny Milne had converted his team's fifth penalty. However, he allowed goalkeeper Robert Douglas to parry it and Celtic survived before emerging from a contest of 18 penalties.

Only John Hartson, Stilian Petrov, Shaun Maloney and Ulrik Laursen had scored for Celtic until Momo Sylla converted his penalty to put Celtic in front for the first time at 5-4.

Douglas then saved David Lilley's kick and Celtic crept into the last four.

It was almost a feat to rank with Partick Thistle's famous defeat of Celtic in the 1971 final, when they defeated a team including Kenny Dalglish to lift the old League Cup.

John Lambie's side rolled back the years for Glasgow's third club. They pushed Celtic to the limit in the second half and with a bit of luck might have snatched a winner in extra time when Scott McLean's header in the 99th minute appeared to cross the line before Jamie Smith headed it clear.

Although the competition does not figure as highly in Celtic's plans as either the Scottish Premier League or the Uefa Cup, O'Neill still put out a strong side that included five of the team that defeated Aberdeen 7-0 at the weekend.

Incessant first-half pressure was rewarded in the 42nd minute when Paul Lambert broke the deadlock. The Celtic captain bravely finished off Hartson's knock-down with a diving header. However, Partick equalised within five minutes of the restart. A mix-up in defence allowed Alex Burns to ghost in and meet Gerry Britton's pass before stabbing the ball past Douglas.

Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Boyd, Laursen, Crainey; Smith, Lambert, Lennon, Petta (Sylla, 63), Maloney; Hartson, Fernandez (Petrov, 81). Substitutes not used: Lynch, Kennedy, Gould.

Partick Thistle (3-5-2): Arthur; Craigen, Chiarini, Whyte; Lilley, Paterson, Harvie, Burns, Archibald (Milne, 40); Walker (McKinstry, 81), Britton (McLean, 71). Substitutes not used: Waddell, Budinauckas.

Referee: W Young.