Celtic boast best squad depth insists Elena Sadiku after 7-0 Cup win as Rangers and Glasgow City progress - SWPL roundup

Hibs, Partick Thistle, Aberdeen, Boroughmuir Thistle and Motherwell are the other 5 teams who make up the last eight

There were no real surprises in the Sky Sports Cup as Glasgow City, Rangers, Celtic and Hibs all progressed to the quarter-finals.

Partick Thistle, Aberdeen, Boroughmuir Thistle and Motherwell all also booked their place in the last eight. Rangers left it late but ultimately had too much for Dundee United. United had succeeded in frustrating Jo Potter’s side before Howat broke the deadlock with 13 minutes remaining. Wilkinson doubled Rangers’ lead with Mia McAulay added a third at the death.

Celtic manager Elena Sadiku rang the changes but still got the result she wanted. The Hoops beat Montrose 7-0 to progress into the quarter-finals of the SWPL Cup after a brace each from Saoirse Noonan and Kit Loferski as well as goals from Mathilde Carstens, Celya Barclais and Morgan Cross. And Sadiku insisted that the result shows that Celtic boast the best squad depth in the country.

“I said to the girls that there is no other team in this league who can make nine changes to the starting XI and still perform like we did,” said the Swede. “I am very proud of the squad and the players we have. It is a big applause for them.

“We dominated from the first minute to the last. That shows what a great team we are and I am very proud of the performance.

“We had a great first-half but we wanted to continue so we went and scored three more. We are never comfortable, we are always pushing for more. It is always about performance because we know that when we perform well that we get the result.”

Her side are up against Rangers on Thursday night on league duty, the first meeting between the teams this season. It was postponed because both teams had Champions League qualifiers earlier this month. She added: “We did what we wanted to do and now it is about how we are going to prepare for Rangers and get the job done."

Partick Thistle progressed to the last eight after a 3-2 win over Spartans and while Brain Graham was happy to head into the next round he was irked it was not more convincing. He said: “I am delighted to be through but it should have been so much more comfortable. We gave away a cheap goal and then it was the second phase from a set piece that we conceded the second goal.

“We created so many chances and we don’t score enough goals. We should have been out of sight by half-time. We are so wasteful at times. It is about composure. Slow yourself down and pick a corner. There are spells where we dominated but it annoyed me that we gave them two cheap goals.”

Glasgow City edged Hearts out of the Cup with a 3-2 win while Aberdeen beat Gartcairn 2-0. Boroughmuir thumped Livingston 8-0 while Hibs saw off Queen’s Park with an emphatic 7-0 win. Motherwell and Hamilton went to penalties after the game was tied at 1-1 after extra-time with the Fir Park side winning the shoot-out 4-3.

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