Rangers make statement with Celtic thumping as striker edges closer to major milestone with stunning strike

A quickfire double from Jodi McLeary (21, 28) cancelled out Maria McAneny’s early opener for the visitors in the 12th minute. However, Celtic’s Chloe Arthur restored parity just ten minutes after the restart. Goals from Hannah Blake (59), Wilkinson (67) and Calliste Brookshire (68) sealed a deserved victory for the hosts.

Rangers’ win puts them three points clear at the top of the SWPL, with Crichton’s side opening the new league season with six successive wins as they seek only their second league title, and their first since the 2021/22 season. Despite several strong performances, it was Wilkinson who stole the headlines. Her stunning long-range free-kick means she edged closer to a century of goals for the club, having already scored 87 times since her arrival from Sheffield United in the summer of 2024.

Following the thumping win, attention will now turn to their Europa League second qualifying round clash against Hammarby at Broadwood on Wednesday, where they’ll hope to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit.

Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis - subscribe for free here.

“Really pleasing,” Crichton told Sky Sports. “The second half felt like a bit of a whirlwind though in all honesty. So I don’t know if we were good, bad or indifferent. What I do know is that in the moments we were presented, we were pretty ruthless and probably could added more to it.

“I still think we were too wide open. I’d have loved us to have managed and controlled the game a bit better, but that’s maybe me being too harsh on the girls in these conditions. This rain has not stopped all day. The pitch has been so quick, as it was on Wednesday night [against Hammarby], so it took us a bit of time to get up to speed with it. So pleased overall with the magnitude of the game, and how tough this run of games has been for us. The players have proved have ready we were.

“It’s a strong win and it probably sends a little bit of a message, but nothing is won and lost at this stage of the season. It allows us to have a little bit of momentum, but we’ve still got to come out of the back of international break, we’ve still got to go to Hammarby, we’ve still got to go to Partick Thistle, then we’ve got another three game week against Hibs and Glasgow City being chucked in as well, so it doesn’t get any easier. It’s just three points and I’m pleased that we’ve got them.

“Listen, it speaks volumes for the staff, the players and even the recruitment team in the summer. We weren’t surprised by Europe. We wanted it. We were chasing it, and we’re pleased we got it. We were right on the front foot. Donald Gillies [Women's and Girls Managing Director] has been excellent since he came in terms of his support for me, and being ready for the challenges ahead. Today epitomises that. We’ve got a huge game on Wednesday night, and we know we can go and do it.”

Celtic boss Grant Scott added: “It’s a real sore one. We are disappointed with the final scoreline. I don’t think we’ve covered ourselves in glory with the third, fourth and fifth goals in all honesty. If you make mistakes like that against a top side, you’re going to struggle. If they made those mistakes against us, we’d do the same to them. We’ve taken a gamble in having a right good go today, and its backfired and I’ll take that on the chin.”