Scottish Cup
Sunday, 19 March, 2023
The Oriam, Edinburgh

HEARTS... 1
(Forsyth 15)

CELTIC... 5
(Kerner 54, O’Riordan 57, Menglu 78, Craig 86, Flint 90+1)

Celtic FC Women booked THEIR place in the last four of the Scottish Cup, after defeating Hearts 5-1 in this afternoon'S quarter-final tie in Edinburgh.

After going a goal behind early on in the first half, the Hoops responded brilliantly in the second-half as Hana Kerner, Claire O’Riordan, Shen Menglu, Chloe Craig and Tash Flint all scored to secure a place at Hampden Park next month.

The Hoops started the game on the front foot, and their first opportunity came within the first five minutes as Tash Flint took aim from just outside the area. The powerful side-footed effort looked to have taken a deflection to divert it away from goal. However, the referee gave a goal-kick.

Despite making a positive start to the game, it was Hearts who took the lead on 15 minutes. The home side won the ball in the centre of the pitch and launched a counter-attack down the right flank.

Georgia Timms created some space inside the area before unleashing a powerful strike on target which was saved by Pamela Tajonar, but the Celtic goalkeeper couldn’t do anything to keep out Monica Forsyth’s follow-up strike from close-range.

Despite Celtic enjoying most of the possession, they were unable to create too many clear-cut opportunities to trouble Hearts shot-stopper, Charlotte Parker-Smith.

At the half-time break, Fran Alonso made two changes, bringing Hana Kerner and Shen Menglu on to replace Liv Chance and Lisa Robertson, and both of those substitutes had an impact as the Celts bounced back to score five goals in the second half.

Substitute Hana Kerner kicked off the scoring as she scored her first goal for club within the first 10 minutes of the restart, a superb strike from outside the area which nestled into the bottom corner.

Just minutes later, Celtic were ahead thanks to Claire O’Riordan, with the Irish internationalist on hand to tap the ball home from close-range after Caitlin Hayes headed the ball back across goal into the danger area.

Celtic continued to pile on the pressure and it was the other half-time change who got on the scoresheet to score Celtic's third goal of the game.

Shen Menglu managed to create some space for herself down the left, and the wing-back picked her head up as she set herself to deliver a cross into the box. And while the ball missed any of the Celtic players inside the area, it looped over the Hearts goalkeeper and ended up in the net.

The three second half goals appeared to be enough to book a place in the next round but Fran Alonso’s side weren’t finished as they continued to push forward in the closing stages.

On her return from injury, Chloe Craig netted from the spot after Hana Kerner was brought down inside the penalty area, and after her hard work throughout the 90 minutes, Tash Flint was rewarded with a goal of her own to complete the scoring.

The on-loan Leicester City striker smashed the ball past the Hearts keeper from the edge of the box, extending Celtic’s advantage further and confirming the Hoops' semi-final place, where they will face Glasgow City.

CELTIC: Tajonar, Otto, O’Riordan, Robertson (Kerner 46), Ross (McAneny 74), Gallacher (Fergusson 81), Jacynta, Chance (Menglu 46), Clark (Craig 81), Hayes, Flint.
Subs: Logan, Shen, Bowie, Goldie

Five-star Celts break Hearts to reach Scottish Cup semi-final