Sky Sports Cup
Sunday, November 10, 2024
New Douglas Park

CELTIC…0

GLASGOW CITY…0

Celtic win 4-3 on penalties

Celtic FC Women booked their place in the semi-finals of the Sky Sports Cup in dramatic fashion on Sunday, after defeating Glasgow City at New Douglas Park.

After a stalemate throughout the 120 minutes of action, penalties settled the match with the Hoops coming out on top thanks to heroics from the spot.

It is gearing up to be a busy few weeks for the Hoops, with back-to-back UWCL matches against Chelsea, alongside double derby outings.

The first of which came on Sunday afternoon as Elena Sadiku’s side welcomed Glasgow City to Hamilton for their Sky Sports Cup quarter-final clash.

With both teams having only suffered defeat on the domestic stage once this campaign, it was gearing up to be an exciting afternoon of action.

And it kicked-off with a busy start to proceedings with both teams going forward from the off and looking to grab an early goal.

Kelsey Daugherty was quick to react to a dangerous looking cross early on, coming to collect, whilst a teasing delivery from Lucy Ashworth-Clifford was cleared at the front post.

That was a sign of things to come, with Daugherty having very little to really do throughout the match, other than collecting a few deliveries into the Celtic box.

On a few occasions, the Celts were looking to use the pace of Murphy Agnew in behind, with the American linking up well alongside Saoirse Noonan up top.

The best chance of the half came just before the half time whistle as an effort from Ashworth-Clifford just went over the City crossbar.

Chances continued to come Celtic’s way in the second half, and the Hoops almost took the lead inside the opening moments of the half.

A free kick sent into the box on the right was headed back across goal, into the path of Bruna, who looked to force it home at the back post.

The ball appeared to cross the line, but nothing was given, and play continued with the score still level.

As the game grew on, so did the Celts’ level of control with more chances coming their way as they looked to find the breakthrough.

On a few occasions, the likes of Saoirse Noonan, Murphy Agnew and substitute Morgan Cross broke free of the City defence, but the final pass was just lacking.

With still nothing to separate the sides after 90 minutes, the game headed into extra-time, with Celtic remaining on the hunt for the all-important goal.

Despite enjoying large spells of the extra 30 minutes, including forcing Glasgow City goalkeeper into a handful of smart stops, the game was ultimately decided on spot kicks.

After making a positive start from 12-yards through Kelly Clark, the Celts fell behind in the shootout, with Maria McAneny extremely unfortunate to miss, seeing her penalty strike the post.

However, the game was soon flipped on its head with Kelsey Daugherty coming up with two huge spot kicks to give Natalie Ross the chance to wrap up the match.

And that is exactly what the experienced midfielder did, stroking the ball home into the net to seal Celtic’s place in the last four of the Sky Sports Cup.

The Ghirls will face one of Aberdeen, Hibernian or Rangers in the next round, with the draw taking place on Tuesday afternoon.

Next up for the Hoops though is another huge night of action as they return to Paradise for Champions League action, taking on Chelsea this Wednesday evening (8pm KO).

CELTIC: Daugherty, Lawton, Clark, Bruna, Smith, Ashworth-Clifford (McAneny 104), Cavanagh (Ross 57), McGregor, Gallacher (Barclais 104), Agnew, Noonan (Cross 66)

Subs: Rodgers, Richardson, S. Carstens, M. Carstens, Luana

Daugherty spot on as Celts secure spot in the Sky Sports Cup semi-final