RANGERS secured UEFA Champions League qualification and will now head into next weekend’s ScottishPower Women’s Premier League finale with the title up for grabs following this afternoon’s emphatic 4-0 Old Firm triumph at Broadwood Stadium.
Following Hearts’ goalless draw with Glasgow City earlier in the day, a brace from Katie Wilkinson and strikes from Laura Berry and Mia McAulay cut the gap between the Gers and the Edinburgh side at the top to just two points.
Leanne Crichton’s side will travel to face Glasgow City at Petershill Park in seven days’ time, knowing they require all three points and victory for Hibernian elsewhere, who host their city rivals.
The head coach named just the solitary change to her side from last weekend’s triumph over Partick Thistle for this one, giving the nod to Lily Boyce in defence, who replaced the injured Kathy Hill.
It was the visitors who sought an early foothold in the contest as a hopeful long throw-in hurled into danger area was collected by Saoirse Noonan, but after swivelling amid pressure from Eilidh Austin the Celtic forward could only drive her effort from a tight angle straight down the throat of Jenna Fife.
However, the opening exchanges certainly belonged to Rangers, who were showing quality alongside their aggressive endeavour.
And they broke the deadlock on the quarter of an hour mark when quick thinking from Kim Shin Ji from a throw-in freed Jodi McLeary inside the penalty area, where the midfielder went down under contact from Tara O’Hanlon.
The referee pointed to the penalty spot, setting the stage for Wilkinson, named Scottish Football Writers’ Association SWPL Player of the Year yesterday, to step forward from 12 yards and send Lisa Rodgers in the wrong direction.
It was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Gers, who would doubtless have been boosted by Hearts’ goalless draw with Glasgow City earlier in the day to keep their hopes of landing a first league title in four years alive and kicking.
A second of the first-half almost arrived 13 minutes in a sweeping move which perhaps deserved a more rewarding conclusion.
The tireless Calliste Brookshire was liberated down the left-hand side, steadying herself to float a delightful cross towards the near post, where Shin Ji broke into the danger area and agonisingly planted her header into the side netting.
If any side were worthy of the next goal in the contest, then it was the home side who were playing with a real swagger.
That was underlined when Shin Ji found a neat lay-off in midfield, which picked out Laura Berry, advanced on the right. Her pick-out was pinpoint into Wilkinson in space 12 yards out, but the forward was denied by a smart saving from Rodgers at the near post.
Three minutes later, the outstanding Shin Ji took it upon herself to let fly at goal when she was released into space on the right-hand side of the penalty area, although on her unfavoured left side, she was always slightly off balance in attempting to curl into the far corner.
There was no stopping the hosts before the interval; however, when Wilkinson doubled both Rangers’ and her own tally for the day before the referee put the whistle to his mouth for half-time.
An aggressive high press from Rangers forced a short clearance from Rodgers in the Celtic goal, with Berry trapping the bouncing ball before digging out a delicious delivery in search of Wilkinson in the penalty area.
An improvised volley later, catching the ball with the outside of her boot from five yards out, and the Gers were suddenly in a commanding position.
The half-time interval barely offered the away side a reprieve, as within 60 seconds of the restart, Crichton’s side found themselves in dreamland with a third of the game.
Wilkinson turned architect on this occasion when she lifted her head and picked out Berry to her right. The Scotland youth international still had it all to do, but her first-touch was immaculate, and her finish even better, as she arrowed an unstoppable effort past Rodgers into the near bottom corner.
Jenna Fife had been a bystander for most of the contest, but she showed her value just beyond the hour-mark as Celtic sought any avenue back into proceedings when she repelled Poppy Pritchard’s header from close-range.
The away side's blushes were spared when Rangers thought they had the ball in the back of the net for a fourth time when Rodgers could only palm Leah Eddie's header in the air, but the Celtic goalkeeper was grateful to watch the ball bounce back into her vicinity as the linesman on the near side did not adjudge the ball to have crossed the goalline.
A magnificent afternoon was crowned with just nine minutes left on the clock when McAulay, springing from the substitutes bench, caught everyone by surprise when her hopeful delivery swayed goalwards and looped over a helpless Rodgers and into the back of the net.
It was the fourth goal that the Gers merited, capping off an outstanding display that Rangers will hope to channel once again in seven days' time in their attempts to capture the league championship.
RANGERS: Fife, Austin (Lafaix, 71), Boyce, Eddie, Docherty (Connolly-Jackson, 86), McLeary, Cruft, Shin Ji, Berry (Hay, 60), Brookshire (McAulay, 60), Wilkinson (Arnot, 86)
Subs not used: Kelly, Pegram, Sabajo, Mengwen
CELTIC: Rodgers, Walsh, Robertson, Craig (Lawton, 45), Gallacher, Rabjohn (McGregor, 21), Clark, Luke (Smith, 64), Noonan, O’Hanlon (Dawson, 79), Nakao (Pritchard, 64)
Subs not used: Gay, Wilde, Westin
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