Fran Alonso bemoans costly refereeing decision as Celtic lose ground in SWPL title race after 2-0 defeat to Glasgow City

Celtic manager Fran Alonso felt the decision not to award Glasgow City midfielder Niamh Farrelly a straight red card for a rash challenge on Chloe Craig cost his dearly in the SWPL title race.

The Hoops four-match winning streak came to a halt as the 15-time SWPL champions sealed a 2-0 victory at Petershill Park to ensure Celtic’s faint hopes of domestic silverware all but diminished.

The main talking point, however, came just before the interval when Farrelly hurtled into a challenge with Craig and caught the Celtic defender flush in the chest with a high boot.

As a result, the match was stopped for up to five minutes as both players received treatment following the heavy collision, with referee Daniel Graves content to keep his cards in his pocket.

It was a decision that incensed Alonso and he also lost first-choice goalkeeper Chloe Logan to a serious knee injury in the closing stages as the Spaniard reflected on a bruising night for his side.

He said: “It was a horrible night in terms of the result and the injuries we’ve picked up. I don’t think the performance was bad.

“In the final third again, we started quite sharp and created two really good chances that we should’ve put away. We then make a little mistake and they punished us.

“For me, their goal was against the run of play so we had to re-group but I still thought we totally dominated the rest of the second half but we didn’t take our chances.

“The referee missed a very clear red card in front of our dugout, it was a challenge that wasn’t acceptable.

“For me, that decision changed the game. It was one of the worst tackles I’ve ever seen and when you don’t punish that then you’re allowing it to happen again.

“When they scored a second goal it was game over for us and to make it even worse we are all devastated for Chloe Logan.

“She has just been called up to the national team this week so we will need to assess her but she’s in a lot of pain, so I’d say it doesn’t look good at all.”

The visitors began the match on the front-foot as they carved out the first real opening after 10 minutes when Jodie Bartle found Jacynta on the edge of the box but the midfielder pulled her effort wide of the target.

Despite their positive start, Celtic looked slack defensively and they fell behind three minutes later.

Priscilla Chinchilla picked up a loose ball and broke down the left before outmuscling Caitlin Hayes and finding Ode Fulutudilu unmarked in the box. The South African striker side-footed her first time shot beyond Logan into the bottom corner of the net.

Fulutudilu should have doubled City’s lead moments later when she linked up with Chinchilla once more but her effort from a tight angle found the side netting.

Celtic probed for an equaliser and in the 23rd minute a clever passing move between Jacynta and Charlie Wellings saw the latter pick out Clarissa Larisey but the striker was forced off-balance and skied her effort over the bar.

In a game that continued to rage from end to end, tenacious work from Fulutudilu earned City a corner which broke out to Clare Shine on the edge of the box. Her shot was blocked off the line before Lauder’s delivery was headed inches wide of the post by Farrelly.

Play was then halted after 43 mins after a nasty clash between Craig and Farrelly, with the latter fortunate to escape without caution.

Celtic were again first to threaten early in the second half when Wellings forced City goalkeeper Lee Alexander into an important save.

Moments later Hayley Lauder came within a whisker of doubling City’s advantage when she controlled Megan Foley’s long throw before watching her defected shot bounce off the right-hand post.

However, City didn’t have to wait long to make it 2-0 as Chinchilla’s perfectly-weighted pass played in Tyler Dodds, who check inside and saw her low shot creep through the legs of Logan into the net.

City would dominate the remainder of the contest with Shine rattling the crossbar from distance before Lauder’s shot on the turn forced Logan to get down smartly to push the midfielder’s shot behind for a corner.

The Hoops night went from bad to worse in the 87 minute when goalkeeper Logan landed awkwardly on her right knee after rushing out to complete a clearance.

In a lot of distress, the youngster had to be carried off the pitch and with all substitutes used, centre-back Caitlin Hayes donned the gloves for the final six minutes of injury time.

After losing her two previous games against Old Firm opposition, Glasgow City head coach Eileen Gleeson was delighted to clinch a vital win to close the gap on leaders Rangers to just two points.

She admitted: “We couldn’t ask for anymore from the girls. They really showed what Glasgow City are about.

“I thought they brought their intensity, kept up their energy and worked hard for each other when we needed to, so I’m really pleased.

“We never showed up on Sunday but tonight you see the complete opposite. Sometimes it takes a really poor performance to realise who you are and that’s what we found out tonight.

“Celtic were always threatening and we were very mindful of that but I thought girls defended well and really committed to their tasks.”

Glasgow City: Alexander, Lauder, Walsh, Fulutudilu (Beattie; 51), Shine (Perea; 77), Clark, Farrelly (Fulton; 45), Molin, Chinchilla, Foley, Dodds (Grant; 77)

Unused: Clachers (GK), Davidson, Filipa

Celtic: Logan, Shorts, Clark (Bowie; 64), Hayes, Bartle (Olafsdottir Gros; 64), Harkes (Toland; 69), Chance, Craig, Jacynta (Atkinson; 69), Wellings (Shen; 69), Lairsey

Unused: Johnstone (GK), Warrington

Referee: Daniel Graves

Player of the match: Priscilla Chinchilla (Glasgow City)