Watched by chief executive Michael Nicholson, Celtic made Scottish women’s football history last night as they overcame Vorskla Poltova with an aggregate 3-0 win to book their place among European football’s elite.
Elena Sadiku was the first Celtic manager to deliver a title to the Parkhead side last season and has now led them into the last 16 as the group stages of the tournament now beckon.
It is another first for Celtic and a first for Scottish football with no team yet to make it into the group stages of the revamped competition. Glasgow City made the last 16 of the tournament but it was when the format was the old knockout format which came after the qualifying rounds.
Having endured a fairly nervous opening 45 minutes, Celtic found their groove after the restart when goals from Emma Lawton and Shannon McGregor eased their tension.
Lawton, signed on the last day of the transfer window less than a fortnight ago, was excellent throughout. Her header eight minutes after the break when she rose to bullet a cross from Lucy Ashworth-Clifford was a fitting way to net her first goal for the club.
For a player who struggled to make an impact at Motherwell just a few seasons back, it has been a monumental turnaround. She did not look out place last night but rather offered a persistent menace for Celtic.
McGregor, whom Sadiku signed this summer from Hibs, netted the second goal that sealed Celtic’s passage into this afternoon’s draw.
Lawton had a hand in that one too. Her throw in sent Murphy Agnew on her way with the forward whipping an inviting delivery with pace and menace into the box that McGregor duly got herself on the end of.
Lawton was delighted to play her part as Celtic look towards the group stages. The 24-year-old struggled to make it into the Motherwell team a few seasons back before she was player of the year for Partick Thistle last term.
“It's just crazy,” she said. “Two weeks ago, I just signed, to now be playing and scoring a goal in the Champions League…
“It was a great cross from Lucy and I just thought to give it everything, and thankfully it went in. It settled us down and gave us that confidence. From then on, we could have scored even more.”
