The WSL was back after a 2-week international break and our Lilywhites travelled to the Banks Stadium to take on 10th placed Aston Villa. Tottenham was looking to bounce back after defeat to West Ham in their last WSL outing while Villa was looking to bounce back from the 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City on matchday 8. Highlights of Tottenham’s match to Wesh Ham can be seen below.
Line Ups.
Aston Villa 4-3-3: Hampton in goal, Mayling, Asante, Sargeant and Pacheco in defence. The Villa midfield was made of Arthur, Allen and Boye-Hlorkah while the Villa attack was made of Gielnik, Littlejohn and Lehmann.
Tottenham 4-3-3: Korpela in goal, Neville, Bartrip, Zadorksy, Harrop in defence. The Tottenham midfield was made of Cho, Percival and Clemaron with the Tottenham front 3 being made of Naz, Williams and Simon.
First half.
Tottenham started the strongest of the two teams, playing their quick passing game as they pinned the hosts back. Tottenham had their first chance of the game in the 8th minute when Williams saw herself one-on-one with Hampton but somehow put the ball wide for what should have been the opener. Villa countered Tottenham right from the goal-kick with Gielnik leaving Harrop behind and shooting from the angle but her effort went wide of Korpela’s goal. Against the run of play, it was the host that struck first on 18 minutes when Lehmann centred into the box and Allen got to the ball before Bartrip and slotted past Korpela.
Tottenham kept coming at Villa while dominating possession and on the 27th minute, good play by Percival saw her brought down in the Villa box by Sergeant for a Tottenham penalty. Simon stepped up and slotted the penalty away to give Tottenham a well-deserved leveller. Tottenham continued the high pressure but was unable to break down a well organised Villa defence. Villa had a good chance in the 39th minute as the ball bounced around the Tottenham box but Korpela pulled off a good save to deny the hosts. Villa could have grabbed a second just before the break on the 43rd minute when a long Allen ball found Gielnik but Korpela was quickly off her line to deny Gielnik for what would have surely been the second for the hosts.
Second half.
The second half started evenly matched with both teams trying to find their flow without risking too much in defence. Villa came close on the 54th minute when a Hampton kick almost went straight in at the other end after Gielnik challenged Korpela but the Finnish shot-stopper recovered well to deny Villa the goal. Tottenham began to regain possession and dominate the game. On 61 minutes Williams won the ball and played it out wide to Neville who crossed from an angle, her cross almost caught Hampton off guard and flew in but the Villa stopper reacted quickly to prevent the goal.
Tottenham continued their pressure and got their reward on the 67th minute after Neville intercepted a Villa ball, played the ball to Naz who slotted Williams through who found herself one on one with Hampton, slotted the ball away to give the Lilywhites a 2-1 lead.
Tottenham had another great opportunity on 70 minutes when Williams found Simon with a pass but good defending by Mayling who got her foot in just as Simon was about to pull the trigger denied the Australian her second of the game. Tottenham continued to pile pressure on Villa and a minute later a Percival cross was dropped by Hampton before being booted away as far as Naz who shot from distance but Hampton saved to deny Tottenham a third.
Villa almost got a goal in the 79th minute when a Pacheco free-kick was dropped by Korpela, Sergeant was first to the loose ball shooting without hesitation but wonderful defending Bartrip, who cleared the ball off the line, denied Villa an equaliser. Villa protested the ball had crossed the line, but without the aid of VAR, the effort could not be reviewed for a goal. Villa kept pushing forward in the last moments of the game looking for an equaliser, but the Tottenham defence held strong in keeping the Villa attackers out before the game was brought to an end by the referee.
Player of the match.
Despite not having it all their own way Tottenham gave a solid performance. Williams has a good game scoring one and creating chances but our player of the game has to go to Molly Bartrip who had a solid performance in defence and denied Villa an equaliser with a goal-line clearance.
Post match analysis.
Another 3 points for our Lilywhites which was the perfect way to bounce back after the defeat to West Ham before the international break. Tottenham went into this game as favourites and dominated the game from the start. Villa had their chances and took the lead against the run of play, but Tottenham showed their fighting spirit and got back into the game. Credit has goes to Villa who was well organised and made it difficult for Tottenham at times, but the quality of the Tottenham team showed as they was determined to leave the Banks Stadium with nothing less than 3 points.
InTottenham’s first game without the injured Kit Graham, we did wonder who would play in place of Kit, Simon filled that position perfectly and looked like she has settled into the team and is gaining confidence with each game. We still feel Addison should start in place of Naz to give Tottenham extra flair down the wing, but all in all, it was a solid team that took on Villa. Tottenham still needs to work on some defensive issues because a stronger team would have punished Tottenham but sometimes a little luck is needed to win games since Tottenham have had their share of misfortune especially against West Ham.
Tottenham now takes on Coventry in the final game of the Conti Cup on Wednesday before welcoming 9th placed Everton to the Hive on Sunday. Everton is struggling this season and has seen a change of management but these are the teams that have given Tottenham the most problems this season. Everton will no doubt be very physical and out to take points no matter what, therefore Tottenham must be solid in defence, and take every opportunity presented to them to not be punished like against West Ham. Maybe it’s still too early to think about Champion League football but with each victory, our Lilywhites are closer to once again creating history. We believe in this team and are proud of their achievements so far this season and our journey continues this Sunday at the Hive COME ON YOU SPURS!!!
Next Match.
Tottenham’s next home match is next Sunday’s at The Hive against Everton. Tickets for the match can be purchased at https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/tickets/buy-tickets/women/match-tickets/ and the match will be shown live on the FA Player at 14:00 on Sunday, December 19th.
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Tottenham vs Everton
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