After taking all three points last week against Leicester, Tottenham travelled to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal on matchday 2 of the WSL. The last time our Lilywhites took on Arsenal, the Gunners ran out 3-0 winners with Mead and Foord getting the goals for the Gunners.
Lineups.
Arsenal 4-3-3: Zinsberger in goal, Wienroither in at right-back, Williamson and Rafaelle in the centre of defence with Catley in at left-back. The Gunners midfield was made of Little, Walti and McCabe while the Arsenal front three was made of Foord down the right, Mead down the left and Miedema in the centre.
Tottenham 3-4-3: Spencer in goal, Turner, Bartrip and Zadorsky made up the back three. Cho and Summanen in the centre of midfield with Neville and Spence in as wing-backs. The Tottenham front three was made of Bizet down the right, Naz down the left with Simon in the centre.
First Half.
Arsenal started the strongest out of the two and came close in the 2nd minute when Walti centred into the Tottenham box which was met by Mead but her effort was deflected out for a corner by Neville. Arsenal continued to pile on the pressure, Mead’s shot was blocked by Bartrip but the ball came back to the Arsenal number 9 who got a second bite at the cherry and this time put her effort past Spencer to give Arsenal the lead. Two minutes later Arsenal came close again when Foord found McCabe with a pass but she could only put her effort over Spencer’s bar.
Tottenham struggled to get into the game as Arsenal dominated possession and in the 18th minute Arsenal again countered Tottenham with McCabe who put a good ball into the Tottenham box but Summanen tracked back to get the ball out to safety. The game slowed down in the 20th minute as Arsenal passed the ball around, making Tottenham chase the ball to tire them out. Arsenal kept looking the most dangerous going forward but the Tottenham defence was alert with Turner, Bartrip and Zadorsky keeping the Arsenal front line at bay.
Arsenal came close again in the 29th minute when an attack started from the back, Walti found Catley down the left who played McCabe through playing a good ball into the Tottenham box finding Little whose shot found the side netting. Arsenal again piled pressure on Tottenham. Arsenal attacked again in the 38th minute with McCabe but Turner tracked her well to put the ball out for a corner. Arsenal came close again a minute again when the Arsenal corner was poorly cleared by Tottenham as far as McCabe who centred into the Tottenham box as Foord was able to rise above all but put her header wide of Spencer’s left-hand post. Arsenal double their lead in the 43rd minute when Summanen was robbed by Catley before Miedema slotted the ball past Spencer to double Arsenal’s lead before the break
Second half.
The second half started with no changes, Tottenham looked to start the second half brighter than the first but had no joy down the wings as Wienroither and Catley held out the Tottenham attackers. Arsenal found their rhythm again and pinned Tottenham back before coming close in the 53rd minute when Wienroither broke for Arsenal as Tottenham lost the ball but her effort was saved by Spencer for a corner. Arsenal got a third as a result when a Mead corner was met by Rafealle after the Brazilian lost Summanen to head a bullet into Spencer’s left-hand corner.
Arsenal didn’t look like easing up on Tottenham and in the 65th minute, Arsenal broke again with Miedema finding herself in a goal-scoring opportunity but Neville and Bartrip closed down the Dutchwoman quickly to regain control of possession. Miedema finally got her reward a minute later when a McCabe corner was met by Miedema who rose unmarked and headed past Spencer for Arsenal’s 4th of the game. Arsenal kept coming at Tottenham and substitute Blackstenius came close in the 72nd minute when the Swed got away from Turner before cutting in and shooting with her right foot but put her effort wide of Spencer’s left-hand post.
A rare Tottenham attack in the 77th minute was led by Neville down the right who centred into the Arsenal box as Celin Bizet leapt for the ball but Pretzelberger got in her way as Tottenham saw an opportunity for a consolation wasted. Arsenal played the ball around in the final 5 minutes but didn’t look like taking their foot off the pedal. Tottenham came close in the 89th minute when Neville stole the ball in midfield finding Karczewska, but the Polish international put her effort from distance over Zinsberger’s bar. The fourth official indicated a minimum of 3 minutes of added on time and it was the Gunners who almost ended the game with another goal when Blackstenius attacked down the left and centred into the Tottenham box finding Hurtig but the ball was intercepted by Turner for an Arsenal corner before the referee brought the game to an end.
Player of the match.
Tottenham was unfortunately outclassed against our London Rivals but a player that gave their all against the Gunners was Ash Neville who push forward to try to create chances and was solid when back defending, therefore, is our Player of the match.
Record Attendance.
Saturday’s game against Arsenal saw a record attendance for a WSL game with 47,367 showing up to the Emirates breaking the 2019 record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where 38,262 showed up to see Tottenham take on Arsenal.
Conti Cup.
The schedule for the Conti Cup has been released, Tottenham will take on Reading this Sunday, October the 2nd (A), Coventry United on November 27th (H) and Southampton on December 18th (A).
Next game.
The WSL now takes a small break for international matches. Tottenham’s next WSL match will be against Liverpool at our new ground, Brisbane Road Stadium on October 16th at 14.00. Tickets for the match can be purchased at https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/tickets/buy-tickets/womens-tickets/ and range from £3.50 for Juniors/seniors to £7.00 for adults.
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