Celtic Women’s raced to the top of the league with an emphatic 10-0 win against Forfar Farmington.
Notching five goals in either half, Fran Alonso will be absolutely delighted with his side’s performance as they head into the final game of the season in a healthy position.
Perfect ? at K-Park?
20 down, one left to go… pic.twitter.com/dxF6imGK7T
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) May 30, 2021
Starting as they mean to go on in this game, Celtic took the lead after just three minutes into the game.
Driving into midfield, defender Caitlin Hayes played a nice ball into the feet of Sarah Ewens. The winger then used brilliant awareness to turn away from her marker before convincingly tucking the ball home into the back of the net.
Just 10 minutes later, the Hoops doubled their lead. Another ball into a dangerous area by Hayes forced Farmington defender Alana Bruce to attempt to clear the ball.
Fortunately for Celtic, Bruce’s clearance looped over her goalkeeper as she turned the ball into her own net.
As Forfar looked to hold on defending well from set-pieces, which has very much been a strength of Celtic’s in recent weeks, they couldn’t hold on for much longer as the Hoops added to their goal tally just before the half-hour mark.
A lovely floated ball into the box found the head of defender Chloe Craig who had the task of nodding home to score her 9th goal of the campaign.
Minutes later, the first-half dominance continued with Fran Alonso’s side scoring their fourth goal of the opening 45.
A long ball over the top by goalscorer Chloe Craig found Mariah Lee behind the Farmington defence. Her first touch took her around the goalkeeper and gave the attacker an empty net to finish the move off.
In the dying moments of the half, Celtic added yet another goal through Anna Filbey.
Picking up the ball on the edge of the box, the former Tottenham midfielder took one touch before striking the ball into the bottom corner, giving the Forfar number one no chance.
Going into the second half, Celtic kicked on as they had in the first, making it 6-0.
As Chloe Craig long-range effort from around 25-yards out, it struck the bar thunderously. Sarah was first to react to the ball, taking it down and slotting it home into the far side of the net, adding her second goal of the afternoon.
Celtic looked to hunt down on the Glasgow City goal difference and continued to do so just before the hour, scoring a seventh.
Forfar Farmington struggled to clear their lines, and captain Kelly Clark kept the ongoing attack from a set-piece going. As her header landed in the goalkeeper’s path, she could not hold on, allowing Lee to come in and add to the scoring, poking the ball home from yards out.
Celtic were given a chance to add an eighth from the penalty spot 10 minutes from time. As she has done all season confidently, Chloe Craig stepped up and slotted it into the bottom corner.
It was nine for Celtic just minutes later, putting themselves level on goal difference with top of the league side Glasgow City at this point.
Once again, it was Sarah Ewens playing a big part in the goal delivering a cross in from the left-hand side. It found the feet of Filbey, who was looking for a double of her own, hitting her effort the first time towards the goal.
At first, it was a good save from the substitute keeper between the sticks for Forfar. However, Filbey was persistent and first to react as the ball popped up, finishing on the second attempt.
To round off an outstanding performance, the Hoops made it 10, putting themselves top of the league.
A brilliant ball into the box by substitute Izzy Atkinson found the head of Ewens, who got her deserved hat-trick from a bullet header at the back post.
Next week, the Ghirls take on Motherwell in the final game of the season. They currently find themselves top of the SWPL, level on points with Glasgow City, who face Spartans later today.
The current champions face off against city rivals Rangers next weekend, so it will be a tricky few final fixtures for City.
Fingers crossed that results elsewhere go our way later on, but Alonso’s team deserve a lot of praise and couldn’t have been asked to do much more, putting in an outstanding performance.
