Celtic will meet Rangers in next month's Scottish Cup final at Hampden after a Natasha Flint goal was enough to beat Glasgow City at the national stadium.
The striker, who joined Celtic on loan from Leicester City in January, had scored a double in her side's 4-2 league win over City the previous Sunday.
The defeat rounded up a chastening eight days for City, as they had also lost to Rangers in midweek. They were beaten in three successive games in December 2020, but two of them were in the Champions League and they hadn't lost three-in-a-row against Scottish teams for almost 20 years.
Celtic and Rangers will now face off in a Scottish Cup final for the first time. Fran Alonso's side are the holders, having beaten City 3-2 after extra time last season, but Rangers have never won the competition.
There was an unusual start to the second semi – Rangers had beaten Motherwell 2-0 at the same venue on Saturday – when referee Alastair Grieve booked three players within the first seven minutes. The first two yellows went to City players, but Celtic's Natalie Ross, who got the third, later paid a heavier price when she was shown a second yellow in the last minute of the game.
What was to prove the only goal came after 19 minutes and it was a characteristic Celtic effort. A cleverly placed pass from Caitlin Hayes to take out the City central defenders was seized on by Flint and the powerful striker placed the ball past Lee Gibson.
City, who hadn't really got going, responded well. The SWPL's top scorer, Lauren Davidson, started to get herself into shooting positions but only one effort was on target and Pamela Tajonar in the Celtic goal dealt with it comfortably.
Another winger, Celtic's Shen Menglu, was giving City right back Anna Oscarsson an uncomfortable afternoon, especially as the Swede had been one of the early bookings and had to tread carefully. The closing minutes of the first half saw Amy Gallacher put the ball in the net following a very similar move to the earlier goal, only for it to be ruled out for offside, while at the other end Tajonar had to make a more demanding save to deny Davidson.
There was a bizarre incident midway through the second half which agitated Alonso. He wanted to replace Gallacher with recent signing Kit Loferski, but although the former Hibs player came off, the American wasn't allowed on until she had removed an ear stud. That proved impossible so Celtic played with for seven minutes with ten before Shen Mengyu came on to replace Loferski, who hadn't even stepped foot on the pitch.
“I was absolutely fuming to play six, seven minutes against a team that were putting pressure on us with only ten players,” Alonso later said. “How on earth can it count as a sub when she wasn't even on the pitch – but I don't want it to distract from what was a fantastic day for the girls.”
City came very close to an equaliser in the five minutes of time added on and the first attempt involved two teenage substitutes. Sophia Martin set up Lisa Forrest but, with her brother James watching in the stand and doubtless experiencing mixed emotions, the Scotland under-17 forward had her close range shot blocked by Tajonar.
With less than a minute remaining, Ross received her second yellow for a foul on Priscila Chinchlla. The free kick from 25 yards was taken by Davidson, but Tajonar was again up to the occasion, punching it away for a fruitless corner.
