Glasgow City lose their opener
The SWPL 1 champions lost to Celtic in a game defined by pressing.
Celtic and Glasgow City kicked off the Scottish Women’s Premier League 1 with a bang, with two of this season’s title contenders coming together. City have won 13 consecutive league titles and are set for a Champions League quarter-final showdown with German giants Wolfsburg next month. Celtic, meanwhile, have undergone great change of late, professionalising and bringing in a number of new signings, as well as a new Head Coach in Fran Alonso.
The reigning champions, managed by Scott Booth, set up for this game in a 4-5-1 with Sam Kerr playing an in-between role – sometimes she dropped into midfield alongside Leanne Crichton and Mairead Fulton; sometimes she played a bit higher between midfield and lone striker Clare Shine.
Alonso lined his Celtic side up in a 4-4-1-1, with Sarah Teegarden playing off of Anita Marcos up front. Natalie Ross and Lisa Robertson played in a double pivot in midfield, with Summer Green and Sarah Ewens providing pace on the wings.
Celtic try to play out, but City press well
Both teams found it difficult to play through midfield in this game. This was partly due to terrible weather conditions, but it was also related to the way both teams pressed. Glasgow City were particularly effective in pressing Celtic as they tried to play out from the back.
City set up in a defensive 4-5-1, with Kerr joining Crichton and Fulton in central midfield. Shine would split the Celtic centre-backs and press the ball, taking away the sideways pass and cutting the pitch in half. When necessary she was supported by Kerr or Crichton, who took it in turns stepping up to apply pressure to Celtic’s centre-backs in the knowledge they still had a 2v2 in central midfield.
City’s wingers, Hayley Lauder and Hayley Sinclair, were also important here, as they positioned themselves to press Celtic’s near-side full-back from inside to out whenever she received the ball. Sometimes Lauder and Sinclair would be the players to step up and support Shine in pressing Celtic’s centre-backs. This allowed Kerr and Crichton to stay deeper and cover Celtic’s double pivot of Robertson and Ross, while Fulton became the extra player for City in midfield.
City’s pressing caused problems for Celtic, forcing them into lots of long balls as they struggled to play into midfield effectively. An example of this is seen below. Chloe Craig receives from goalkeeper Chloe Logan but there aren’t any short passing options on. Shine is closing her down while cutting out her centre-back teammate, right-back Jodie Bartle is about to be closed down by Lauder, and Celtic’s midfield duo are marked by Crichton and Kerr. Craig plays long over the top and possession is lost.
Celtic cause themselves problems
While Glasgow City’s pressing was a major factor, Celtic did cause some of their own problems in build-up. In the above example, both Ross and Robertson are covered player-to-player by Crichton and Kerr, so would come under immediate pressure if Craig passed to them. At this point, it’s up to one of the front players to drop, try to find separation and show for the ball.
In my opinion this didn’t happen enough – Teegarden, Ewens and Green could have dropped off more to offer their centre-backs a passing option in midfield. On one occasion in the first half Ewens did do this and it allowed Celtic to progress from their own defensive third into the final third. When she dropped she dragged her marker with her and made space down the flank for Celtic left-back Chloe Warrington to receive and dribble into.
Robertson’s movement also wasn’t ideal. There were a couple of instances of her dropping to receive and actually making herself unavailable for her centre-backs.
In the one below we see Celtic trying to play out from goal kicks again, with Craig receiving from her goalkeeper. Robertson is initially unmarked and in a decent position – Craig could just pass it to her feet and she could turn and dribble or pass forward. But instead Robertson drops to the point she is in line with her centre-backs and covered. She is no longer a passing option and there’s a huge gap in midfield. Craig finds a pass through to Teegarden, but there’s a lack of support around her and the move breaks down.
Celtic press aggressively in 4-4-2
Celtic set up to defend in a 4-4-2 with Teegarden supporting Anita in pressing Glasgow City’s centre-backs whenever they tried to play out from the back. The pressure Celtic’s front two put on was intense and also effectively blocked passes into midfield, sometimes leading to turnovers as City centre-backs Jo Love and Jenna Clark struggled to pick out Fulton or Crichton.
Naturally with this pressing, a lot of City’s possession went wide. Once they moved the ball out to the full-backs, Celtic’s near-side winger would press. Generally it was hard for City to get through this pressure without resorting to long balls, but on one instance they did manage to out-play Celtic’s press and move forward down the left wing. Kerr was highly influential as City’s extra midfielder, as you will see.
In the below clip, City have moved the ball wide to left-back Megan Foley, who passes down the line to Lauder. Kerr can be seen moving across from the middle, between the lines, completely unmarked. Celtic’s centre-backs don’t want to follow Kerr because a gap would open in their back line, so Robertson or Ross need to cover her. They don’t, so Kerr is free to create a 3v2 down the left wing which ultimately leads to Lauder playing Foley in down the flank.
City lose at the death
While there were some occasions where both teams advanced the ball effectively, overall both struggled to get their attacking game going. The pressing on show, along with the weather, meant it was hard for both to keep control of possession for sustained spells. There were more long balls than either side would probably have liked, which led to lots of broken play and a scrappy game.
Celtic looked most comfortable with the transitional, open nature of the match. Robertson was excellent in attacking transition – when Celtic regained the ball she was quick and accurate in distributing it to the wings and getting Green and Ewens into dangerous 1v1 situations where their speed could cause problems for City’s defenders. Robertson’s passing in general will be a huge plus for Celtic – few SWPL1 midfielders will open up games the way the former Hibs player can.
While Celtic counter-attacked effectively on several occasions, City looked most threatening at set pieces. Time and time again they out-foxed Celtic’s zonal marking to get free headers at goal, but were unable to take full advantage of these situations. Ironically, Celtic scored their winner from a set piece – captain Kelly Clark firing home after a corner kick.
That was the last touch of the game, so there was no way back for Glasgow City. With a 2-1 victory over the reigning champions, Celtic will feel they are part of a more competitive title race this season.
This game was televised live by BBC Alba. If you want to watch a replay of the full game, it can be found here on the BBC website. Also, BBC Scotland will be streaming one women’s football match per week until the end of March at least.
Thanks for reading,
Blair