Scottish Women's Football

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Jenna Fife (Rangers): Made amends by saving Hibs' second penalty. If that goes in it's probably three points dropped but her save on 85 minutes kept the opportunity for Rangers to grab a late point.

Claire Docherty (Partick Thistle): Was solid in defence for Thistle in the 2-0 win over Queen's Park. Helped build up patient play from the back too.

Kate Fraser (Spartans): Her head didn't go down when Celtic took an early lead, and she went on to produce an excellent showing at the back in Spartans' narrow defeat. She made some vital interceptions and cleared dangerous balls well.

Siobhan Hunter (Hibs): The defender put in a tremendous shift and, although there was late heartbreak as Rangers scored an injury-time equaliser, her performance until then can't be underestimated as she kept the visitors at bay for much of the match.

Lisa Evans (Glasgow City): Got City off the mark in the 13-0 thrashing of Dundee United with her first goal since joining the club. Defensively she may not have been troubled but she played a part in City's second with an assist.

Imogen Longcake (Partick Thistle): Came on a sub just before the hour and made a significant impact. Her two assists were key to Thistle picking up all three points.

Aleigh Gambone (Glasgow City): With United down to 10 players, City ran riot and Gambone was right in the thick of it. Showed great composure for her opening goal, and set up three others.

Ciara Grant (Hibs): Performed well in the middle of the park and battled defensively and offensively.

Emily Whelan (Glasgow City): Also enjoyed having the run of things with City. A hat-trick and an assist, her relentless play was evident.

Rio Hardy (Rangers): Got in a great position to ensure she was able to pounce on the rebound to score a vital equaliser. Fast becoming a super sub for Rangers - without her goals in their last two games they would have dropped more points.

Bayley Hutchison (Hearts): Was unlucky to miss out on the previous team of the week, but there's no doubt about her place this time. The striker's goal on 75 minutes ended a frustrating afternoon for herself and Hearts. She then added a second minutes later, effectively sealing the win over Montrose.

Image source, SNS

Montrose manager Craig Feroz: "I thought we were superb. We switched off for the goal and that killed us.

"I didn't think they had that many clear cut chances, before the goal I actually thought we were going to get something out of the game.

"I'm sure they're frustrated with their performance despite the points."

Hearts manager Eva Olid: "It was not an easy match, we didn't start well.

"When we started getting forward we missed that quality in the final third. In the second half we fixed things which allowed us to play a little better."

Image source, SNS

Hibs manager Grant Scott: "We've now taken points from both Celtic and Rangers and in the games we turn up we're capable of playing against anyone.

Rangers manager Jo Potter: "I think my players deserve a lot of credit for digging in.

"In the elements it's not easy, they were up against it with officials but they went right to the last minute and managed to get a point from a really tough game."

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Partick Thistle assistant manager Ross Stormonth: "I thought the girls were excellent from start to finish, I thought we controlled most of the game. If we'd taken our chances we'd probably have scored a few more.

"We've dropped a couple of points we shouldn't have, we've given ourselves a bit of an uphill battle to finish in the top six but we need to go into the break, refresh and come back ready for the second half of the season."

Queen's Park manager Craig Joyce: "We were really solid up until a certain point in the game and then conceded two goals just from standing off the game.

"It was the first time we let them in and they punished us for it. I was really proud of the girls for their attitude and effort. Again it's the tale of two boxes for us but there's certainly an improvement."

Image source, SNS

Dundee United manager Suzy Shepherd: "We had a spell of about 22 minutes after we asked the players at half-time to try and get through 15.

"They did that but the disappointing things was then going on to concede back to back four times within a five minute spell."

Glasgow City manager Leanne Ross: "I thought we were excellent. We wanted to get a good quick start and I think that's what the players did.

"We asked them to be ruthless and bring that relentless streak and they did that right from the start of the game through to the end."

Image source, SNS

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku: "We played a Champions League game some days ago and that effort was something I was really proud of but today [Sunday] not so much.

"There wasn't a lot I was proud about [this weekend]. We know we want to win the league, we want to be dominant, we want to be the best team and show our very best performance and I don't think we did that."

Spartans boss Jack Beesley: "No points but performance-wise I thought the girls were excellent.

"We tried to be a little bit more aggressive to offer a threat and I think we did that.

"Primarily I'm very, very proud of the girls. You're always disappointed not to take points from the match but I think it was far bigger than that. I think the performance was outstanding."

Image source, Malcolm Mackenzie/SWPL

It's another huge weekend in the SWPL and, as usual, we've got you covered.

It's all happening on Sunday with six games on the go. We'll have full live-text commentary right here on the BBC Sport website and app.

The pick of the card see Hibs welcome league leaders Rangers at 16:10. You can watch that game live on BBC Alba, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Plus, all six Sunday matches will be covered with our live-text commentary - starting with the three 13:00 kick-offs, Partick Thistle v Queen's Park, Aberdeen v Motherwell and Montrose v Hearts.

Celtic are looking to bounce back from last weekend's defeat at Hearts as they host Spartans at 14:00 while Glasgow City travel to Dundee United for a 16:00 kick-off.

And of course, Jane Lewis will be bringing together all the best bits with Sportscene Highlights on Monday at 19:00 on the BBC Scotland channel.

Image source, SWPL

The SWPL has revealed record financial results for the Scottish women's top flight.

Payments to clubs totalled £389,000, an increase of 17% from last year's figure.

Over £304,000 of that money was distributed through club fee payments, with the remaining £85,000 divided up as prize money through the SWPL Cup.

The league credited broadcast partners Sky Sports, BBC Alba and BBC Scotland for "supporting the financial growth" and "driving the increased visibility" of the league.

"These are exceptionally strong figures for the second full season of the SWPL," managing director Fiona McIntyre said.

"They are yet again a testament to the hard work of our clubs to advance women's football in Scotland."

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

After Hearts' historic victory over Celtic last weekend, Edinburgh rivals Hibs will be hoping for a similar feat when they host Rangers on Sunday.

Hearts' 1-0 victory over the reigning champions marked the first time the Tynecastle side had ever beaten the Glasgow club.

While Hibs have historic success over the Old Firm sides, they haven't beaten Rangers since an emphatic 8-0 win in 2019.

Since then, Rangers have won 16 out of the 17 meetings between the sides.

But after some hard work on the transfer front, Grant Scott's side have had a cracking start to the season.

They sit fourth in the SWPL table, two points behind Hearts and two above Celtic.

They've won seven of their 10 games and their only draw of the season came against the other half of the Old Firm in a 0-0 game at the Excelsior back in August.

The Easter Road club have scored 35 goals this season, the third most in the top flight behind Rangers and Hearts.

But no one can deny the goal-scoring form of their opponents with 56 goals in just 10 games, 18 of which have come from summer signing Katie Wilkinson.

There is, however, the small matter of recent results.

In their previous three fixtures Hibs have scored nine goals as they eased past Spartans and Montrose after a difficult defeat to Glasgow City.

Rangers, on the other hand, have scored just five including a narrow 2-0 win over Motherwell after losing a two-goal lead and drawing 2-2 with Celtic.

Those results, coupled with a hard fought SWPL Cup win over Dundee United, should give the hosts confidence.

We'll see what they can do with it on Sunday. You can watch the action live on BBC Alba, the BBC Sport Scotland website and app. Kick-off is at 16:10.

It was another defeat for Celtic in the Champions League, but were there were some positives to take despite the 4-0 defeat by Real Madrid?

Have your say here, external.

Image source, Getty Images

Celtic manager Elena Sadiku: "I think how we played football was amazing against a team like Real Madrid. I'm very proud of the team. First half, we defended well and had energy from the girls.

"Second half, we created chances and that could've changed the game. We need to be executing those better.

"But for me, how we played football and how we attacked shows what I want with this team.

"Nobody thought that we'd be here. It's about enjoying it and doing our very best. It shouldn't have been a 4-0 loss, 2-0 would've been more acceptable."

Adam Binnie
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Tactically, Celtic played about as well as could be expected, but they just ran out of steam in the final quarter.

Sadiku set up her side to tame Real's firepower, and had it not been for Weir's early wonder strike, they could have entered the dressing room at the break very satisfied with their start.

Their usual 3-4-2-1 formation looked more like a 5-4-1 as the hosts expectedly dominated the ball and the chances, but most of Real's efforts for the first hour were comfortable for goalkeeper Daughtery.

Sadiku started three natural wing-backs with Celya Barclais and Lawton doubling up on the dazzling Caicedo on Real's left side.

The Colombian was still electric, but Barclais and Lawton suffocated the space she was afforded to work her magic around the box.

Consequently, Caicedo was often forced to look for an extra pass instead of taking on a shot herself, which helped Celtic limit chances for 63 minutes after Weir's opener.

Ultimately, the Spanish side were too strong as they turned on the style - cutting Celtic apart as Navarro was teed up for the crucial second, while Moller's chip from distance was silky.

This display will give the Scottish champions more encouragement than their opening performance against Twente on their group stage debut, but it only gets tougher next time as they face Chelsea home and away in November.