How do you stop Khadija Shaw? The correct answer remains a mystery, but many of the wrong answers were unwittingly exposed by Tottenham’s out-of-sorts defending on Friday night during this one-sided affair.
Inside the first minute, the Spurs centre-back Clare Hunt learned the hard way that ideally you should not take too long on the ball when being closed down by the Women’s Super League’s top scorer so far this season, otherwise she will easily nip the ball away from your feet, bear down on your team’s goal and clinically tuck the ball into the net past your goalkeeper, Rebecca Spencer.
The visitors also learned the hard way that, when the England winger Lauren Hemp lifts a high cross towards Shaw in the six-yard box, it would be preferable to keep your eye on the ball and challenge for the header. Unfortunately Hunt, peering over her shoulder to look for Shaw, did neither of those things and the Jamaica striker was presented with the easiest of headers to make it 2-0 inside the first quarter of an hour.
“She’s an amazing striker but it’s also poor defending from us, to be honest,” a disappointed Tottenham head coach, Robert Vilahamn, said. “If you’re going to stop her, you need to be on her, you need to tackle in the right moments. She got into the game after 20 seconds and got her self-confidence, and that’s not the way to play against her.”
It would be wrong to lay the blame entirely at Hunt’s door but when the Australia defender was substituted at half-time, it felt like a kindness. The former Paris Saint-Germain player is an Olympian and a World Cup semi-finalist but even a defender of such international calibre and experience appeared daunted by the task of facing Shaw in this kind of form.
The Switzerland defender Luana Bühler also paid the price for not marking tightly enough at the back post from a low Hemp cross in the 67th minute, allowing Shaw to complete her third hat-trick in her five WSL starts against Tottenham. It was Shaw’s 12th goal in those five games against Spurs and she became the first player to score three hat-tricks against the same opponent in the WSL. It was also Hemp’s third assist of the night, as the City winger proved equally unplayable at times.
The Netherlands midfielder Jill Roord had already fired home Manchester City’s third goal of the night from close range just moments earlier, shortly after Hemp had struck an effort that hit both posts before bouncing clear, but Shaw was the star of the show.
“Spurs seems to be a real team of joy for her,” the Manchester City head coach, Gareth Taylor, said of Shaw, who, with seven goals, has now scored more than twice as many as anybody else in the WSL so far this season.
“She is certainly the first presser in the team, winning the ball back aggressively. She’s really important for us as a focal point. She works really hard for the team and gets her rewards.”
Tottenham had arrived at the Etihad off the back of a morale-boosting, last-gasp victory over West Ham last Sunday but Vilahamn’s side were outclassed on Friday and registered only a single shot on target.
He added: “When they scored the goals at 3-0 and 4-0 that close directly afterwards, that kills us. We need to make sure we find ways to stay present in the games because, right now, it’s too many goals on too few chances against us.”
It does not get any easier for Tottenham next Saturday when they face an Arsenal side who, in Friday’s earlier kick-off, produced their best display of the season so far to earn a 5-0 victory at home to third-placed Brighton.
Extending their unbeaten run under the leadership of their interim head coach, Renée Slegers, with a third victory from a possible four, Arsenal enjoyed victory with goals from Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum and Lina Hurtig, before the England striker Alessia Russo netted a 95th-minute penalty to complete the rout.
It was only Brighton’s second defeat of the season and the convincing result saw Arsenal move up to fourth and within just one point of the Sussex club, but still seven points adrift of leaders Manchester City, whose purple patch continues.