“0-3, Elena has surpassed herself” – Hibs victory a blessing in disguise | OneFootball

Walking down past the old graveyard next to Pittodrie last night just before the gates were opened to allow the early arrivals within our away support to make their way into the stadium, I received this message from a friend – “0-3, Elena has surpassed herself”.

Elena, that’s Elena Sadiku, the Celtic FC Women Head Coach and of course her team were away to title chasing Hibs in the 6pm kick-off. Hibs needed to beat Celtic and as they probably expected theRangers to beat Hearts, they’d then need a point at Ibrox on Sunday to win the league.

News of a 0-3 scoreline was strange, you always want Celtic to win but maybe a little less so last night. But a turn around against the league leaders in the first half hour or so of the match would be encouraging for the longer term as Sadiku looks longingly towards a fresh start next season.

Celtic FC Manager Elena Sadiku. Celtic FC Women v theRangers, SWPL Sunday 11 May, at Hamilton, Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

It didn’t take long to check that the scoreline was actually 3-0 to Hibs and yes Elena had surpassed herself this time. Hibs went on to win 4-2, theRangers beat Hearts 5-3 and while Glasgow City also won their title challenge effectively ended and they are playing for European place by hoping the result at Ibrox goes their way on Sunday so that they can finish second to claim the second UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying spot.

City incidentally were behind to Motherwell last night and it took a late penalty to give them the winner after getting back on level terms. Worth mentioning that because Celtic take on Motherwell at Celtic Park on Sunday.

Last night’s results also saw Celtic FC Women drop from 4th in the table to 5th on goals scored with all other factors – points, goal difference, wins, draws, defeats all being exactly the same as Hearts.

So on Sunday Hibs need a point at Ibrox against theRangers Women to win the league. If they lose the match theRangers will be Champions on goal difference. It would take a miracle scoreline – maybe 30-0 – plus theRangers to win narrowly for Glasgow City to win the title, so they’ll be hoping theRangers win their match and the league so that they can claim second spot with a win over Hearts.

That’s probably a result that suits Elena who will hope to finish the season with a win at Celtic Park that would, assuming Hearts don’t upset Glasgow City, give Celtic a fourth place finish. Motherwell though will fancy their chances after giving City a real scare last night and only losing 1-0 to Celtic in the first post-split match-up.

Glasgow City after this is all done and dusted play theRangers in the Women’s Scottish Cup Final on Sunday 25 May, with Jo Potter’s side knowing that if they win their next two games the treble is theirs. Let that sink in.

Celtic’s post-split results with nine out of 10 games played are as follows:

Hearts 3 -1 Celtic FC Women – Points 0/3

Celtic FC Women 1-2 Glasgow City – Points 0/6

theRangers 1-1 Celtic FC Women – Points 1/9

Celtic FC Women 0-0 Hibs – Points 2/12

Motherwell 0-1 Celtic FC Women – Points 5/15

Celtic FC Women 2-1 Hearts – Points 8/18

Glasgow City 3-1 Celtic FC Women – Points 8/21

Celtic FC Women 0-1 theRangers – Points 8/24

Hibs 4-2 Celtic FC Women – Points 8/27.

Taking eight points from 27 – is that acceptable for any Celtic side? Finishing 4th or even 5th in the table? Is that the Celtic standard? Ultimately that’s for the Celtic Board to judge. But football as they say is a results business…

Celtic FC Women v Motherwell takes place at Celtic Park on Sunday 18 May, kick-off 12 noon. Tickets are on sale via the official Celtic FC website.

Here are all the results from last night and how it leaves things going into the last day of the season on Sunday.

Last night’s results

How the table stands

Last word to Elena Sadiku who said something interesting in her post-match interview with Celtic TV concerning the game in Sunday being the last time that this group will be together. Have a listen…