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

CELTIC…1

(Lawton 90+1)

RANGERS…2

(Hardy 47, Wilkinson 51)

Celtic FC Women bowed out of the Sky Sports Cup, losing out 2-1 to Rangers at New Douglas Park.

Despite a positive first-half showing, a period of five minutes at the beginning of the second half seen the Hoops suffer defeat in the Glasgow Derby.

After kicking off 2025 with two wins from two, the Ghirls were quickly back in action for their third home game in a row.

This time, it was a break from league duties though as Elena Sadiku’s side took to the Sky Sports Cup in a semi-final clash against Rangers.

With a place in the final of the competition up for grabs, it was a scrappy opening stage of the game, with both sides looking to play their way into the game.

In the opening 45 minutes, Celtic enjoyed their large spell of positive possession, getting forward and trying to create chances.

Sadiku’s squad made a bright start to the match, with the Celts aiming to cause the visitors issues in wide areas.

Both Mathilde Carstens and Emma Lawton were linking up well, with the full-back getting a dangerous cross into the box inside the opening moments of the match.

Her ball was well cut out at the front post, with Kathy Hill getting a crucial touch on the ball to take it away from any Celtic player.

The away side did look to get forward on occasion, with Chloe Logan having a few saves to make. But in the opening half, there wasn’t much of note for the Hoops shot stopper to deal with.

The Hoops’ first real opening of the game came just beyond the 20^th minute mark as Saoirse Noonan had her first sight at goal.

A well-worked move with some nice one-touch passing found the path of the Irish forward. On the stretch, she looked to find the corner, but it went wide of the target

Both sides were going from end-to-end at pace and shortly after Noonan’s opportunity the visitors had a chance for the opener.

Having two attempts at goal, both of Katie Wilkinson’s efforts were brilliantly blocked off by Caitlin Hayes.

As the half time whistle approached, Noonan almost had another opening in front of goal as Barclais attempt to find her with a direct ball in behind. But it was just too heavy.

Despite a positive first-half display, the Hoops made a disappointing start to the second and found themselves fall two goals behind.

The first coming from Rio Hardy inside the area from close range, before Katie Wilkinson found a second just minutes later with a well-executed finish from a free kick.

The Celtic Head-Coach looked to turn things around after a disappointing five-minute spell, introducing the likes of Lucy Ashworth-Clifford, Maria McAneny and Murphy Agnew to the match.

Sending several set pieces and cross into the box, the Hoops ultimately couldn’t cause enough trouble for the Rangers shot stopper between the sticks.

Heading into stoppage time, the Celts did find a way to goal as Emma Lawton pulled one back in the first minute of stoppage time, latching onto Murphy Agnew's pinpoint corss into the box.

But, it was too little, too late as the game ended in a 2-1 defeat at New Douglas Park as the Ghirls bowed out of the Sky Sports Cup.

CELTIC: Logan, Lawton, Hayes, Clark, Barclais, Ross (McAneny 69), McGregor (Cavanagh 46), Gallacher, M. Carstens (Smith 69), Cross (Ashworth-Clifford 76), Noonan (Agnew 76)

Subs: Daugherty, Richardson, Bruna, Luana

Celts suffer derby defeat in Sky Sports Cup semi-final