Aberdeen were unable to respond to Celtic's win on Friday night in kind as they had to settle for a point from a tightly-contested clash with Partick. Celtic moved eight points clear at the summit with their 2-0 triumph at St Mirren and second-placed Aberdeen could only make marginal in-roads into the Hoops' advantage after drawing 0-0 with Partick.
It could have been worse for the Dons, though, as Partick had chances to snatch the spoils for themselves at Pittodrie. Two of them came during the first half, one of which saw substitute Lyle Taylor spurn the best opening of the match for either side. Taylor, who had replaced Kris Doolan just after the half-hour, found himself clean through six minutes before the break following a defensive error between Ashton Taylor and Mark Reynolds, but his chip over Jamie Langfield trickled wide of the post. Abdul Osman also had a decent opening for the visitors before the interval but Langfield was equal to that effort. Those chances came after Aberdeen had made a promising start with Adam Rooney testing Partick goalkeeper Scott Fox early on
Lawrence Shankland, on his first start of the season for the Dons, saw a right-footed shot skim the crossbar before the teenager had another chance in the 20th minute, only to see his header also go over. It was Thistle who should probably have been ahead at the break, however, with Taylor missing that great opportunity and Aberdeen had another let-off at the start of the second half when James Craigen got clear. Fortunately for the hosts Langfield was able to tip his shot over and soon after Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes decided to ring the changes, sending on Niall McGinn and Peter Pawlett in a double substitution for Shankland and Willo Flood.
The Dons tried to find a way through but Rooney could not capitalise on his chance on the hour-mark as his header was saved by Fox. Ryan Jack then saw a good cross go to waste as there was no-one in the box to take advantage. At the other end, Ash Taylor made amends for his earlier mistake with some fine defending to keep Thistle from taking the lead after a slip from Pawlett.
With time running out Aberdeen pushed forward to try and find the winner and Jonny Hayes twice threatened to make the breakthrough. He appeared to have a great chance in the 82nd minute after going through on goal, but referee Kevin Clancy pulled play back for a free-kick to Thistle in what looked a controversial decision. Hayes had another opportunity in the 86th minute and this time managed to get a shot away in anger, but Fox was equal to the effort as Aberdeen had to make do with just a point.
Source: PA
Source: PA