'That wasn't Celtic' - Hoops boss admits side were unrecognisable in 2-0 loss to Rangers

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku felt her side were unrecognisable in the 2-0 Scottish Women’s Cup semi final loss to Rangers.

Celtic Head Coach Elena Sadiku claps the Hoops support at the final whistle at Hampden. Cr. SNS Group.

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku felt her side were unrecognisable during the 2-0 defeat to rivals Rangers in the Scottish Gas Scottish Women’s Cup semi final at Hampden Park.

Two strikes in the final seven minutes from Chelsea Cornet and Kirsty Howat put pay to the Hoops hopes of a domestic double and the Swedish head coach was extremely honest in her assessment of the game.

“If you look at this game, how it was played - this was not Celtic,” admitted Sadiku. “It was not us. From the first minute, I felt we were not us. We were not confident or brave. We did not deserve to win. That is something we need to learn from because if we play like this, we will not win anything. That is just the truth.”

Currently two points ahead of Rangers in the league, Celtic entered the game looking to make the final of the competition for the third year running but struggled throughout the clash at Hampden.

“Rangers always play the same,” said Sadiku. “I don’t think its anything to do with them. We were just not on it today. You can see it in our duels and how we play. That is my first impression from the game. It will be good to look back at the game and see what didn’t work tactically but the players I know can play better than this.

“We’re Celtic. We should always be hungry to win games - especially a semi final. I don’t know what it is but it is something we need to fix. To make it clear, it is not who we are. Especially in the first half. If we concede a goal from a corner - which we are very good at - it shows you we are not on it.

“We didn’t win second balls today. Obviously I don’t think Rangers were so much better than us because I don’t think they created a lot. They had some long distance shots but I thought it was a very boring game to be honest - but that is just my opinion.

The 30-year-old Hoops boss cut an extremely frustrated figure in the aftermath of the loss but has urged her team to learn from the performances quickly ahead of a huge home clash against current Scottish champions Glasgow City next Wednesday night.

“I wish that my players were more brave and confident that they could do well. That is hurting right now but it comes back to if I could have done something differently to make them believe we are Celtic and we are better. I need to figure out what the problem was. In the end, maybe it was a game nobody wanted to lose.

“We need to learn from this and bounce back as quick as possible. If we want to win the league, we can not look like this. We need to get fuel from this, get back to it and do what we can do, which is play really good football. We have to be willing to fight for it too. I’m very confident that we are going to bounce back.”