Women's Scottish Cup semi-finals: The key talking points
By Jessica Elliot
A Scottish Cup double header took place at the national stadium
After an exciting weekend of Women’s Scottish Cup action that saw Rangers and Hearts progress to the final, let’s take a look at three talking points from the semi-finals:
Do Rangers have Celtic figured out?
Rangers manager Jo Potter certainly thinks so (Image: Getty Images)
Celtic lost 2-0 to Rangers in Saturday’s semi-final as the Gers scored two late goals to take them to the final.
It was a hard-fought game with neither side having any real chances. At times, it appeared as though both teams were more concerned with not losing than they were winning, and everyone inside the stadium could’ve seen the tie heading to extra time.
Eventually, though, Rangers found the breakthrough from a corner as Chelsea Cornet’s header found the back of the net. Celtic tried to push forward but this just allowed Jo Potter’s side to increase the pressure, eventually resulting in Kirsty Howat lobbing it over Kelsey Daugherty for a second goal.
The main talking point here is the tactical battle. Celtic never really had any chances, apart from Tash Flint’s half-chance volley, and they seemed to have been nullified by Rangers completely.
It’s not only the supporters that noticed it either as Jo Potter, the Rangers manager, claimed in her post-match press conference that she has Celtic figured out.
She said: “As I said in my press conference the other day, we know how they are going to play. We knew their threats, of what they could pose and if we allowed them to do it then I think they would’ve had a few more chances.
“We always knew that if they did go 1-0 down, then Caitlin [Hayes] would go up top. You know, it’s the same as what they’ve been doing for a long time now.
“So, we had a plan to counteract that as well which worked.”
Celtic manager Elena Sadiku doesn’t agree with that though.
In her post-match press conference, Sadiku said: “I don’t know what they did, to be honest, that made them tactically better. We just didn’t play good.
“I don’t think Rangers were so much better than us because I don’t think they created a lot. They had some long-distance shots on Kelsey [Daugherty] that she saved, and they got corners from, but I thought it was a very boring game, to be honest, but that’s just my opinion right now.”
Jambos worthy of the final
Hearts book their place in the final against Rangers (Image: Getty Images)
After a 3-0 victory over Spartans in Sunday’s semi-final, Hearts officially secured their place to face Rangers in the final of the Women’s Scottish Cup.
Kate Mooney opened the scoring just before half-time before Kathleen McGovern headed in a second shortly after the break. Carly Girasoli secured victory for the Jambos beyond any doubt with a goal in injury time.
Spartans have had an uneventful season in the league that sees them sitting in 10th place, but their Scottish Cup run is something that they can be proud of.
With that being said though, Hearts were the worthy victors on this occasion, as they have been throughout the entire competition.
So far, Hearts have scored 23 goals and conceded none in this season’s Scottish Cup run. After a tight 1-0 victory against Rangers, which was their win against a top-three side in their history, they’ll have some confidence going into the final later this month.
Focusing on their victory over Spartans though, it was fairly straight-forward for Hearts as their opponents never really threatened them. They held possession well and were making good runs. Ciara Grant and Monica Forsyth controlled the midfield well and made sure that this Edinburgh derby was a difficult occasion for the bottom-half Spartans.
Momentum swinging in Glasgow?
Momentum is key in a title race - which one of Glasgow’s big three is in the driving seat in the SWPL now? (Image: Getty Images)
Momentum is an incredibly important thing in football and before the game, I even said that whoever came out on top in Saturday’s tie would have the advantage in the SWPL. I stand by that as although Celtic are top, they’ll need to put in a shift against Glasgow City if they want to put themselves in the best position for the title.
A win at the Excelsior Stadium against City means that they could afford a draw when they face Rangers next Monday at Broadwood. Anything other than three points at the Excelsior and the Ghirls will need to be on their A game in the Glasgow derby.
As things stand, Celtic are top of the Scottish Women’s Premier League table by two points. They have a vastly better goal difference, with it sitting at +102 as opposed to Rangers’ +86.
The victory would’ve certainly given Potter’s side a mental boost though, but everyone at Celtic definitely knows that and will hopefully use their rival’s possible confidence to their advantage.