On a sunny bank holiday Monday at Kingsmeadow, the Blues triumphed 2-1 in an FA Cup London derby to progress to the semi-finals.
Right from the outset, it was clear the visitors were going to make life difficult for us, but roared on by the home support, we took the lead before half-time: Sam Kerr heading in Keira Walsh’s cross in via the post.
Spurs levelled after the break, though, and it took prolonged spells of pressure – and something special – to finally unlock their defence for the second time of the afternoon. It was provided by teenage substitute Veerle Buurman, who smashed her first Chelsea goal into the top corner with four minutes left on the clock.
Tottenham could have little complaint. Although the possession statistics could lead you believe it was a relatively even contest, with 52 per cent for Chelsea to our opponents’ 48 per cent, the more accurate reflection of the game would be the expected goals, where the Blues led 2.93 to 0.44.
Our 137 passes in the final third to Spurs’ 71 also highlights which side offered the vast majority of the attacking initiative at Kingsmeadow.
Laying down a siege
Spurs’ intentions were clear, with a deep defence and a goalkeeper willing to leave her line to claim crosses and attempted forward passes utilised alongside a highly compact midfield three, which also sat deep, to shield the back four.
That combination made for a crowded penalty area, while also denying the Blues time and space to craft an opening around the edge of the box.
Sonia Bompastor opted to fight fire with fire and rise to the challenge Tottenham posed, getting plenty of our own bodies into the danger areas to take the game to the crowded defence and deny Spurs in their aim of having a spare player at the back whenever possible.
Our front three of Kerr, Alyssa Thompson and Lauren James all took up very narrow central positions, while Erin Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nusken pushed right up to join them in attacking areas, as we played on the front foot.
That allowed us to put pressure on Tottenham throughout, both by giving us targets to aim for in attacking areas and support for the player in possession, as well as allowing us to press high and early after losing the ball, as seen for the decisive goal.
It meant large spells of the game were played high up in Tottenham’s third of the pitch, with the Blues registering 33 touches inside our opponents’ penalty area and 12 shots from inside the box.
However, the drawback of such a crowded area was also demonstrated by the eight Chelsea shots which were blocked by Spurs defenders.
Using the space
The lack of space in and around the Tottenham box left the Blues looking to create from different parts of the pitch, wherever the room to look up and pick a pass appeared.
Key to that was Walsh's performance. As Cuthbert and Nusken pushed forward to drag the Tottenham midfield towards their own goal, it created more and more room for Walsh in her deeper midfield role, from which she pulled the strings and launched the occasional incisive burst forward to break the lines.
The England international’s total of 42 completed passes was higher than any other Chelsea outfield player bar the two centre-backs, and no player from either side could match her 16 completed passes in the final third, which included the assist for Kerr’s opening goal.
The search for space in which to operate also resulted in a lopsided game, with Niamh Charles galloping forward to provide width high on the left flank from full-back, where 43 per cent of our attacks began.
On the opposite side, though, Ellie Carpenter had to be more cautious to deny Spurs counter-attacking opportunities, as they looked to their own left wing for 49 per cent of their attacks.
The Australian marshalled her flank well, with her three tackles won the most of any player, and only Naomi Girma recovered possession for Chelsea more times than Carpenter’s six.
Clinical Kerr and brilliant Buurman
Kerr once again showed the ruthless efficiency which has made her such a devastating attacking force at the highest level. The packed Spurs defence denied our striker space, time and opportunity, but she made the most of whatever came her way.
From 32 touches on the ball, she managed four shots, two of them on target and one giving us the first goal, in addition to creating two chances for her team-mates. It was her fourth goal in three FA Cup appearances this season, and her individual expected goals of 1.65 was three times that of the entire Tottenham team combined.
Even that display of efficiency paled in comparison to that of super-sub Buurman, though, who showed exactly how to make an impact off the bench.
Not only was the 19-year-old’s winning goal an absolute beauty, but you can’t argue with a ratio of one actual goal from an expected goals total of 0.05!