Having taken an early lead through Kirsty Hanson’s first goal in a Spurs shirt, we dominated the opening stages, only to see last season’s Liga F runners-up turn the scoreline on its head with quickfire strikes from Felicia Schroder and captain Linda Caicedo during their best spell of the game.
Signe Gaupset, Drew Spence and Matilda Vinberg were all close to a response before late chances for Julia Blakstad and substitute Shekiera Martinez went begging as we finished strongly, albeit without managing to find an equaliser at the Pinatar Arena.
It was, nevertheless, a display full of attacking purpose in sweltering conditions from Martin Ho’s side as our preparations for the new Barclays Women’s Super League campaign continued to ramp up.
Having beaten Granada via a late Gaupset goal at the same venue on Sunday, we started as we meant to go on against Real and broke the deadlock less than five minutes in. Gaupset teed up Spence for a shot which was saved by goalkeeper Merle Frohms but Blakstad was on hand to recycle the ball close to the byline on the left and she fed Hanson, who marked her first start in our colours by firing brilliantly in from the angle.
Vinberg’s searching ball was just too long for Blakstad as we controlled the early going but Real began to work their way into the game and proved a threat on the counter. Schroder got in behind but her tame effort was saved one-on-one by Lize Kop while Filippa Angeldahl’s effort from inside the area was blocked by the foot of Toko Koga before they equalised with a blistering break on 22 minutes. Caicedo released the marauding Schroder from half-way after receiving her initial pass from inside their half and the latter raced forward before slotting into the far corner.
Three minutes later, we found ourselves behind as Eveliina Summanen had her pocket picked at the edge of our box after a pass out from the back by Kop and the ball was worked to Caicedo, Kop initially dived at her feet to get a touch on it but the Real skipper managed to hold onto possession and wriggled free to convert into the empty net.
Gaupset fired wide at the other end straight afterwards in a good chance to respond and as darkness descended rapidly due to the solar eclipse happening overhead, we continued to look for an equaliser in the lead-up to half-time, Spence sending a looping shot wide and Vinberg unable to steer her back-post header on target. Caicedo reminded us of her counter-attacking threats just before the break, though, bursting away down the left and producing a good save from Kop, with Caitlin Dijkstra blocking her follow-up shot.
The second half didn’t yield much in the way of chances until the closing moments as we mounted a sustained spell of pressure in search of a leveller. Martinez couldn’t quite convert Ella Morris’ cross in the middle of the box before arguably our best chance came and went on 87 minutes, Blakstad’s header from Olivia Holdt’s delivery going straight at the keeper. We carved out another opening with seconds of normal time remaining when Vinberg’s clever through ball found Victoria Pelova in the inside right channel in the box, but she could only swipe the ball across the face of goal with Martinez unable to reach it. Still we pressed, Morris unable to get a shot away when well placed in the box and ultimately we ran out of time, Real escaping with the win.
Line-ups
Real Madrid Femenino: Frohms, Levels, Keukelaar, Schroder, M Mendez, Angeldahl, Andreia Jacinto, Caicedo (c), Eva Navarro, Elisa Senss, Andersson. Substitutes: De La Cuerda, Toletti, Dabritz, Llamas, Agueda, Oihane San Martin, Velez, Rubio, Rascon, Zuazo, Delgado, Valbuena, Candela Rodriguez, Abril Diaz.
Spurs: Kop (Panengstuen 46), Dijkstra, Koga, A Nilden (Morris 62), Blakstad, Summanen (Holdt 74), Gaupset (Pelova 62), Spence (c), Vinberg, Tandberg, Hanson (Martinez 62). Substitutes (not used): Jackson, M Nilden, Ahtinen, Dennis, Pierre, Hills.
Match data
Goals: Real Madrid Femenino – Schroder 22, Caicedo 25; Spurs – Hanson 5.
Yellow card: Spurs – Tandberg 85.
Referee: Andrea Firvida.
Venue: Pinatar Arena, Murcia.
Weather: Hot, 33 degrees.