Spurs Women 2 – 5 Arsenal: Defensive Errors Sink Spurs
If I had a nickel for every time a top side beat us 5-2 recently I’d have two nickels, and soon I might have more!
(Photo by Izzy Poles - AMA/Getty Images) | Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur Women suffered a heavy defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates in front of a crowd numbering over 40,000. Unlike years past, Spurs at least looked like a team that (mostly) knew how to play football, but it wasn’t enough to stop another blowout against a top side. Martin Ho had somewhat less of a selection headache on his hands with Tōko Koga and Maika Hamano ready to go after their victory in the Asian Cup.
He still managed to make it controversial by benching Beth England and Eveliina Summanen. It brings me no joy to have to describe five goals we conceded once again, so I’ll try to keep it brief. Alessia Russo’s first half hattrick started off with a header on a corner after Hanna Wijk was bullied away from the critical area she was defending.
Russo then wandered off Molly Bartrip’s shoulder while she was busy trying to cover the spot Eveliina Summanen usually occupies in midfield, and Amanda Nildén’s questionable positioning kept Russo onside for goal number two. For the third, Lize Kop passed straight to Russo inside the box. There were several different kinds of defensive lapses on display here, and Arsenal (and Russo specifically) were ruthless taking advantage of them.
There was a brief moment of hope between goals two and three where Tinka Tandberg showed we’re not totally outmuscled and outsized on set pieces by using Frida Maanum as a kind of battering ram to knock the ball into the net. The second half was much the same. Spurs’ collective inability to defend the box made it easy for Foord to score Arsenal’s fourth.