Aberdeen Women 0 Celtic 4 ScottishPower Women’s Premier League 1 Balmoral Stadium Sunday 25 August | 1:00PM
Aberdeen returned to the Balmoral Stadium after securing their first win of the season, but just could not compete against a strong Celtic side.
The Dons named an unchanged side from the team that picked up the first points of the season against Montrose on Wednesday.
It took the Reds just 35 seconds to test visiting keeper Rodgers.
A clever pass back from Ogilvie to Black allowed the right back to play a through ball for Kraft. The striker darted into the box but saw her shot go just wide.
The reigning SWPL 1 champions showed their attacking flair throughout the first half, managing to get their first goal of the game after four minutes.
The ball was cleared from a corner; however a long-range attempt was flicked on by Murphy Agnew to make it 1-0.
Megan Sidey probably predicted that she’d have a busy afternoon and produced a string of fine saves in the opening quarter to stop Celtic from adding to their goal tally.
Aberdeen had the chance to even the score on the 11th minute mark after stealing possession and turning defence into attack. The fast break found Kraft who hit a shot from afar. It unfortunately went wide for a goal kick.
In the 20th minute Celtic grabbed their second of the game.
Some neat play on the right-hand side gave the visitors the chance to cross into the box. Amy Gallacher then slid in to meet the ball, passing Sidey for 2-0.
Elena Sadiku’s side had more chances to score in the closing stages of the first half, with Caitlin Hayes heading over the bar twice and Sidey diving low to stop Gallacher from scoring a second.
Half-time Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic.
It took just three minutes into the second half for Celtic to get their third goal of the game.
Jennifer Smith found space on the right wing to hit a cross. The ball sailed over Sidey, finding its way into the back of the net.
Captain Hannah Stewart had the chance to grab a goal back for Aberdeen in the 55th minute after collecting a pass from Kraft. Her shot was saved by Rodgers before Hannah Innes saw her rebound go over.
In the 66th minute Celtic made it four.
Summer arrival Mathilde Carstens took the ball for a run and struck from range to widen the gap further.
Celtic thought they made it five with 10 minutes to play, however Loferski was ruled to have been standing in an offside position.
Aberdeen were forced to play the last few seconds with 10 players after Nicola Jameison was given a second yellow card for a late challenge.
The women head to Glasgow next weekend to face Brian Graham’s Partick Thistle.
FULL-TIME ABERDEEN 0-4 CELTIC.
REACTION FROM THE CAPTAIN | Hannah Stewart
“We always knew it was going to be tough, but these are games you want to be involved in, a chance to test yourself against one of the best teams in the league. We stuck together out there, we defended as a team. I think we defended a lot better than we did in the Rangers and Hibs games. We can actually take a lot of positives. We got forward, we created chances of our own, and we threatened their goal. We need to take that into next week.”
“I think you can see there is confidence being built. When we have the ball we can keep it for longer spells and look to go forward, but equally we are trusting each other a lot more when it comes to defending. You can see it is paying off. We’ve now got two games coming up that we look forward to. They are games we know we can take something from and they are a chance to get some points on the board. We need to look at what we did well today and take that into next weekend.”
STATS
Aberdeen: Sidey, Noble, Jameison, Gover, Stewart (90), Ogilvie, Finnie, Innes (64), Thomson, Kraft (90), Black
Subs: McCann, Edwards (90), Bruce (90), Miller (64), MacPherson, Fraser, McEvoy, Robertson, Elder
Celtic: Rodgers, Gallacher (61), Smith, S. Carstens, Cavanagh, Agnew (77), Clark, Hayes, Noonan (45), Ashworth-Clifford (45), Mcaneny (45)
Subs: Daugherty, Barclais, Ross, Craig (45), M. Carstens (45), McGregor (61), Kerner (45), Loferski (77), Lourenco
Agnew 4′, Gallacher 20′ Smith 48′ Carstens 66′
RED CARD: Jameison 90+3
