UEFA Women's Champions League
Saturday, September 9, 2023
Intility Arena, Oslo

VALERENGA… 2
(Tvedten 5, Thorsnes 120)

CELTIC… 2
(Loferski 8, Smith 114)

Valerenga win 11-10 after penalty shoot-out

Celtic FC Women suffered penalty shoot-out heartache tonight (Saturday) after losing out in the final of Round One to Valerenga.

Following a valiant effort from the Ghirls, which saw the Hoops come from a goal behind early on, Jenny Smith’s late extra-time strike looked to be enough to give Fran Alonso's side a historic victory.

However, Valerenga equalised with a last-gasp penalty and then ran out 11-10 in a dramatic shoot-out, which saw Celtic goalkeeper, Kelsey Daugherty, miss the decisive penalty.

It was the Norwegian side who had opened the scoring early on in the match. Picking up the ball outside the area, forward Olaug Tvedten struck a powerful effort from long-range, which nestled in the back of the net.

However, after falling behind so early on, the Celts didn’t let their heads drop and the produced the perfect comeback, scoring just three minutes later to equalise.

After some good pressure from Amy Gallacher who won the ball high up the pitch, she released Kit Loferski in on the left.

Racing in on goal, the American remained composed and made no mistake with her finish, tucking the ball into the bottom corner to make the score 1-1.

For the remainer of the half, both sides enjoyed some decent attacking spells, but it was the Ghirls who continued to have most of the possession.

The home side did have a couple of good chances to regain the lead, but the Celtic defence stood strong and Daugherty produced a number of good stops, including an impressive double save from a set-piece.

For Celtic, Loferski’s pace was causing trouble for the Norwegian side down both flanks, and she came close to doubling her tally.

Being played through on the right, the American tried her luck from a tight angle, but a good save from Guro Pettersen denied the Hoops a second goal.

Just before the break, the Celts were hit with an injury blow after a collision between Gallacher and Colette Cavanagh, with Gallacher forced to come off and Tiree Burchill coming on in the forward’s place.

And Burchill had an almost instant impact at the start of the second-half when she had the ball in the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside.

Valerenga continued to look dangerous going forward, but Daugherty was once again on hand to produce two fantastic saves to keep the score level.

With around 15 minutes left to play the Hoops came desperately close to grabbing the all-important second goal of the game.

Winning a free-kick just outside the area, Shen Mengyu delivered a dangerous ball to the back post which Caitlin Hayes headed goalwards, but the Norwegian side managed to clear the ball to safety.

With the game entering the closing stages, Celtic continued to enjoy plenty of possession as they tried to find a way to goal.

Jenny Smith was next to try her luck and attempt to test the goalkeeper, but her strike from range went over the crossbar.

Despite both teams having some good chances, neither could be separated following the early goals and the game headed into extra-time.

Once more the Hoops enjoyed the majority of possession heading into extra-time, and also had the best chances to win the game.

In the early stages of the extra 30 minutes, Cavanagh looked to find the top corner with an effort from just outside the area, which went narrowly past the post.

As the first half came to a close, Celtic came within inches of scoring as the home side cleared the ball off the line once more.

A corner found the head of Hayes, who nodded the ball to the back post where Chloe Craig attempted to stick the ball in the net. However, the goalkeeper got a hand on the ball before it was cleared off the line by the defender behind her to keep the score at 1-1.

The breakthrough finally came for the Hoops in the 114th minute as Jenny Smith scored her first goal for the club to give Celtic the lead.

After some nice play on the left flank, which saw Maria McAneny release Murphy Agnew down the line, the American cut inside up and slid the ball into the path of Smith who hit a first-time shot into the roof of the net.

With the clock ticking down to full-time, Celtic conceded a last-gasp penalty after Caitlin Hayes was adjudged to have fouled a Valerenga played inside the area. The Norwegians converted the spot-kick to force a penalty shoot-out to decide the match,

Following 21 straight successful penalties, it was ultimately Valerenga who would come out on top after goalkeeper Kelsey Daugherty saw her spot-kick saved.

It was a heartbreaking way for Fran Alonso's side to go out of the UEFA Champions League after they had put so much into the game and came so close to winning it.

CELTIC: Daugherty, Barclais (Agnew 106), Ross (Menglu 70), Craig, Gallacher (Burchill 45+1), Smith (Goldie 118), Shen, Cavanagh (McAneny 106), Clark, Hayes, Loferski (Partido 76).
Subs: Logan, Ferns, Timlin, Addi

Penalty shoot-out heartache as Hoops bow out of Champions League