Hearts Women were defeated 1-0 by Glasgow City in their final match of 2025 at Oriam on Sunday.
Nicole Kozlova’s second half header was enough to secure all three points for the visitors as the Hearts were unable to close the gap to Glasgow City at the top of the Scottish Power Women’s Premier League.
Eva Olid made three changes from the 3-0 away win over Motherwell last weekend.
Joely Andrews replaced Jenna Slattery in midfield, Erin Husband came in for Lizzie Waldie in defence, and Kayla Jardine was preferred to Lauren Wade out wide.
The women in maroon came out the blocks quickly to start the match.
Striker Carly Johns won possession high up the pitch, sprinted into the box and looked to slot one into the bottom corner, but her effort was a comfortable one for Gibson in goal.
20 minutes in, Jess Husband drove down the left, cut on to her right foot and let fly, but her effort sailed over the bar in the end.
Glasgow City came forward in the 37th minute and were nearly in behind as Maatta drove into the area, but Hearts centre-back Danique Ypema made a fantastic recovery tackle to send it out for a corner which was then cleared by Hearts.
Moments later, Nicole Koslova latched onto a loose pass in defence for Hearts, sprinted into the area and looked to get a strike away, but Rachael Johnstone was quick off her line to mop up for Hearts.
Half-time: Hearts 0-0 Glasgow City
The visitors took the lead on 58 minutes. Lisa Evans whipped in the cross from the right and Nicole Kozlova arrived as her header crashed off the post and in for 1-0.
With nearly 10 to go, Hearts had a decent opportunity to find the equaliser. Georgia Timms collided with goalkeeper Gibson, and it came out to Sade Adamolekun who had a pop from outside the box, but her effort went off target.
Not long after, Jess Husband got down the left flank and fizzed in a cross which found Adamolekun, but it was a difficult chance for the midfielder as her strike went behind.
Late on, the ball was played over the top of the City defence to Lauren Wade. The winger cut on to her left foot and struck one, but her strike was deflected and out for a corner.
From the resulting corner, skipper Georgia Hunter swung a boot at it in a crowded area, but her effort was cleared from danger.
In the end, it wasn’t enough for Hearts as they couldn’t conjure up a late equaliser as Glasgow City claimed all three points.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, Eva Olid said:
“I think we had a really good performance. We missed our clear chances in the first minutes and that can change the match, not scoring the first minutes, it gives us a lot of confidence, but we miss.
“It was a 50/50 game. Some moments they had the ball, other moments we had the ball. For that, I think that it is so unfair to lose today.”
“When you are losing, you are forced to play forward. That is normal. And sometimes we could stay more on the ball instead of forward. But we changed at the last minute, trying to attack and score. Carly (Girasoli, came on and played as a striker, she's a centre back, but she's so aggressive in the air, looking for those aerial balls and creating a mess in the box.
“We wanted to be brave at the last minute, but we couldn't score. We had chances last minute, but it didn't happen. That is football. Football is cruel.”
After 476 days out, the manager was delighted to see Carly Girasoli make her long-awaited return from injury.
“She's so important for us and not having her last season was hard. Same of Georgia Hunter. Both were key players in the team. She's so aggressive, she's a leader, she's good on the ball. She's so good in set plays, in the box, like it's someone that we need and having her back is a key thing for us going into next month.”
Hearts: Johnstone, Ypema, J.Husband, E. Husband, Hunter ©, Shore, Timms, Adamolekun (Girasoli, 85’), Jardine (Forsyth, 80’), Andrews (Slattery, 71’), Johns (Wade, 71’)
Subs: Vilao, Thomson, Forsyth, Wade, Waldie, Halliday, Hutchison, Girasoli, Slattery
Glasgow City: Gibson, Muir ©, Lauder, Golob, Forrest, Wrobel, Evans, Smit, Kozlova, Motlhalo, Maatta
Subs: Clachers, Lockwood, Harrison, Whelan, Anderson, Tanaka, Brownlie, Boyes
