Manchester United Women have still never lost to Tottenham, despite a very strong effort from the North London visitors on Sunday.
The Reds came out and dominated the first half, recording 14 shots with three attempts on target, generating 1.62 xG and playing much of the half in Spurs territory. And yet, United went into the break down 2-0. Spurs scored twice on just three chances before the halftime break, and came out swinging in the second half to add a third from former United striker Martha Thomas.
Up 3-0 with less than half an hour to play, it seemed as though Martin Ho would get a deserved win against his former employer. United manager Marc Skinner looked perplexed and frustrated on the sidelines, but on the pitch, his squad was beginning to pull itself out of a bad situation.
Ella Toone bagged the first goal for United with about 15 minutes to play, and from there it was game on. She hit the crossbar on a volley just minutes later, but substitute Fridolina Rolfo scored a second to give the attempt another leg to stand on.
Melvine Malard could have scored the equalizer right after Rolfo’s, but her attempt from at least a couple of yards out was blocked on the line. United pushed deep into stoppage time, and were rewarded with a second goal from Rolfo through the chaos. The Reds reset and broke forward down the left, and a cross in towards the back post was met by the Norwegian, unmarked for the finish.
Leah Galton was the other substitute who helped transform the match, registering the crucial assist, and showing again what she can do if she’s allowed to play on the left wing.
The result was a difficult one to accept with Chelsea and Manchester City both continuing to pull away, and the last month has been a poor show of management by Marc Skinner as his team have squandered positive starts in the WSL and in Europe. Still, the second half performance was another demonstration of the quality in the team, and United certainly have the talent to build something out of nothing when management fails.