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Tottenham Hotspur Match Reports
Tottenham Hotspur Women
Tottenham Women 0-3 Arsenal: We reap what we sow
One year after a historic win over Arsenal, Spurs are dominated at home in the Women’s NLD.
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A year ago in this same fixture, Tottenham Hotspur Women showed a real sign of intent and improvement in the WSL, nicking a late goal against Arsenal and holding off a fury of attacks en route to their first ever Women’s North London Derby win.
They could not recreate that same magic this season. Arsenal got a goal after just 65 seconds from Alessia Russo, another from Frida Maanum, and added a third midway through the second half Stina Blackstenius as the Gunners rolled to a comfortable 3-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Tottenham, by contrast, were on the back foot the entire match, barely had a sniff at goal, and did not look anything like a team trying to push into the upper tier of the WSL.
It was not easy viewing. Arsenal dominated possession 60%-40%, had a 13-3 shot advantage, and pressed Spurs into oblivion from the opening kick. Spurs were able to claw their way back into the match somewhat in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent another dispiriting NLD loss.
Sorry this is such a depress-o-thon today, but there really weren’t very many positives to take from this match. Here are my reactions.
Match Reactions
For the second match in a row, Tottenham gave up a big goal against a big opponent on a big stage inside two minutes. This time it was Russo taking advantage of a lucky deflection, splitting the defensive line, and slotting past Becky Spencer. Spurs have been plagued by defensive lapses this season. This was another one as Clare Hunt didn’t close Russo down.
Arsenal’s press is exceptional but the early goal left Spurs shell-shocked. At one point Jessica Naz picked off a loose ball in midfield and immediately passed it backwards to Becky Spencer, which doesn’t bode well when you’re already behind a goal.
A few small signs of life late in the first half when Beth England forced a quality save from a long shot and then earned a couple of corners.
Tottenham worked themselves back into the match somewhat late into the first half, but by that time they had already shipped two goals. You’re not going to win too many matches if you do that.
One of the big differences between last year’s team and this year’s is the presence of a playmaking midfield. Without Grace Clinton or Kit Graham, and with Maite Oroz injured, Spurs have nobody who can effectively facilitate attacks from the midfield. Drew Spence had a particularly awful game. And the lack of a decent midfield press means the back line and keeper are under a lot more pressure. You really saw that today. Spurs could not get the ball to Beth England, Hayley Raso or Jessica Naz in space or even NOT in space, which killed any potential attacks early on.
Even if they’re a tick below where they often are, Arsenal are still a very good team and that gulf between them and Spurs was incredibly evident on Saturday. You don’t necessarily expect a win against the teams at the top of the table, but you would at least want them to look competitive. Spurs did not.
This is a really depressing list of match reactions and I wish it weren’t, but Spurs really haven’t given fans much to cheer about this season, reflective of the club’s lack of squad reinforcement in the summer. Arsenal were able to bring Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius off the bench today; they’d be Spurs’ best players this season. We reap what we sow.