Tottenham visited Walton Hall Park to take on 10th placed Everton on Matchday 20. The last time both teams met was in December when Tottenham ran out 1-0 winners with a goal from Naz. Tottenham was looking to bounce back after back to back defeats to Chelsea while Everton look to avoid relegation.
Tottenham went down to 10 player Chelsea on Sunday at the hive after many missed opportunities cost the Lilywhites a famous victory against the Champion before going down 2-1 at Kingsmeadow 4 days later after a hard-fought match.
News.
Tottenham captain Shelina Zadorksy played her 50th game for Tottenham this week in Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea on Thursday night. Zadorsky has been one of Tottenham’s key players since coming to the club in 2020. Zadorsky has been such an instrumental addition that she was named club captain after taking over from Josie Green.
Lineups.
Everton 5-4-1: Brosnan in goal, Maier in at right-back, Bjorn, Finnigan and George in the center of defence while Pattinson was at left-back. The Everton midfield was made of Anvegard down the right, Bennison and Graham in the center of midfield with Magill down the left. Toni Duggan was Everton’s lone striker.
Tottenham 3-5-2: Spencer in goal, Bartrip, Zadorksy and Harrop made up the back three for Tottenham. The Tottenham midfield was made of Neville as a right wing-back, Summanen, Ayane and Clemaron in the center with Ale down the left as a wing-back. Upfront for Tottenham was Williams and Tang.
First half.
Tottenham got the game underway and dominated possession from the start. The blues had their first chance in the second minute when an Everton counter led to a Graham shot from distance but her effort was wide of Spencer’s right-hand post. Tottenham came back at Everton with Williams finding Summanen with a pass as she ran through the Everton defence before getting her shot away, Ale got the final touch to give Tottenham the lead in the 5th minute.
Tottenham continued to put pressure on Everton and should have gotten a second in the 7th minute when Neville found Ayane who found herself one-on-one with Brosnan before getting her shot away but her effort was cleared off the line by Bjorn to keep the gap at just 1 goal. Everton came close to grabbing an equaliser in the 13th minute when a Maier ball was met by Duggan, but her header was just wide of the Tottenham goal.
Everton came close in the 22nd minute when a wonderful run by Pattinson, who skipped past four challenges before her effort was deflected for a corner. Despite the game slowing down as Everton settled into the game and most of the play taking place in the middle of the park, it was still Tottenham that looked the more dangerous when going forward. Tottenham should have gotten a second in the 36th minute when a Bartrip corner was met by William who headed the ball across the box finding Tang who tried an acrobatic volley but her effort went over Brosnan’s bar.
Tottenham continued to push Everton back as Tang found Ayane with a pass in the 40th minute and centred into the box as Neville made a run in but was tracked well by Pattinson and could only put her effort wide. Tottenham should have grabbed a second in the 44th minute when Ale found Ayane with a chip finding herself one-on-one with Brosnan but shot straight at the Everton keeper. The 4th official indicated a minimum of 2 minutes added time as Tottenham continued to dominate possession and push the Toffees back but was unable to get a second before the break.
Second half.
Tottenham made two changes at halftime with Naz coming on for Tang and Cho coming on for Harrop. Everton came out more offensive in the second half as Tottenham lost some of the control that they enjoyed in the first half. Neither team was able to create any clear chances until the 60th minute when Summanen latched onto a loose ball and shot from distance but her effort went wide of Brosnan’s goal as both keepers remained untested in the second half.
Two minutes later, Tottenham came close again when Summanen intercepted an Everton pass and found Cho before the South Korean unleashed a shot from distance but it sailed just by wide of Brosnan’s left post. Everton could have grabbed an equaliser in the 64th minute when Dali found Duggan with a pass whose shot went across the face of the Tottenham goal but Magill who was making a run to the far post was unable to reach the ball as Tottenham was let off.
Tottenham came close again to finding a second in the 67th minute, when a quick Tottenham counter saw Williams find Ayane with a pass who shot from a tight angle, Brosnan somehow got a glove to the ball and it bounced off the bar as far as Williams who passed to Naz but put her effort wide of the Everton goal. Everton came close in the 78th minute when a Bennison free-kick was met in the air by George but her header was a comfortable save for Spencer.
Tottenham came straight back at Everton when Clemaron stole the ball in midfield before finding cho with a pass down the right who tried to pick out Williams in the Everton box but good defending by Bjorn put the ball out for a throw. Everton managed to draw Everton level in the 85th minute when Dali got a cross into the Tottenham box and Turner rose unmarked to put the ball past Spencer to draw the host level. Tottenham came straight back at Everton Naz used her speed to leave Pattinson behind and got the ball into the Everton box as substitute Josie Green slid in behind Graham to turn the cross in and give Tottenham the lead with 5 minutes left to play.
Photo: @spurswomen Twitter.
Everton came straight back at Tottenham from the restart as Dali started the attack for Everton before finding Pattinson who unleashed a shot but her effort was well blocked by Bartrip. The 4th official indicated a minimum of 5 minutes added time and in the 91st minute a long Benninson cross found Finnigan at the far post as she beat Ale to the ball to head Everton level. Both teams pushed forward in the final minutes looking to snatch something at the end but both sets of defenders did their job as the game ended with both teams sharing the points.
Player of the Match.
This week’s player of the match goes to Rachel Williams. Williams was everywhere for our Lilywhites in midfield making tackles, creating chances and threatening the Everton goal.
Post-match analysis.
Tottenham will go into the North London Derby without a win in 6. Arsenal needs to win to put pressure on Chelsea as the title race looks like it will go down to the final day. A victory for Tottenham will give this team a huge boost ahead of their final game of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as our Lilywhites seek revenge against a Leicester team that ended Tottenham’s FA Cup run.
Tottenham was overall the better side against Everton and should have comfortably finished the game by half-time but missed opportunities once again cost Tottenham the 3 points. Skinner put out a strong squad as Everton struggled to keep Tottenham at bay but it just fell apart for our Lilywhites in the final 5 minutes. It was good to see Tang get a rare start but she was unable to threaten the Everton goal as much as we would have liked but this could be due to a lack of playing time during her time at Tottenham.\
Spurs Women 