Totally dominant at Brisbane Road with 35 shots, you sensed it was only a matter of time before we put the visitors to the sword and – much like in last weekend’s astonishing 7-0 win at Crystal Palace – we only went up through the gears as the game went on, with all four goals arriving in the second half as Martin Ho’s side powered to victory.
Villa simply had no response with goalkeeper Lize Kop largely a spectator – and it could have been even worse for them had Dijkstra’s driven first-half effort been allowed to stand, the ball appearing to have crossed the line before Villa defender Lynn Wilms whacked it clear. The result means we’ve now gone seven WSL matches unbeaten for the first time – a run stretching back into last season.
Our attacking intent was clear from the off as Toko Koga, Tandberg and Kirsty Hanson – in action against her former club – all had attempts inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour before Tandberg’s subsequent header was saved by Villa goalkeeper Akane Okuma. A moment of controversy arrived in the 17th minute, though, as we appeared to have taken the lead with Dijkstra’s low drive in the wake of a corner seemingly crossing the line – defender Wilms was stood inside the goal as she cleared it – only for the referee to allow play to continue.
A good effort from Hanson later cleared the crossbar while Amanda Nilden’s low shot from distance forced a save from Okuma and Tandberg’s shot was diverted into the side netting as we continued on the front foot going into the break, with Villa restricted to only the odd opening, where some wayward finishing let them down.
Olivia Holdt latched onto Signe Gaupset’s pass but saw her angled effort deflected over the bar in the opening stages of the second period, but we didn’t have to wait much longer for the breakthrough, with the same two players involved in the build-up. Holdt exhibited some great footwork on the right flank and played short to Gaupset whose driven cross from that side was parried by Okuma, with Pelova on hand to slide home the loose ball on 55 minutes.
It remained one-way traffic thereafter, Julie Blakstad denied by Okuma with a clever free-kick and later volleying over the bar, before Pelova doubled her tally on 73 minutes. Following a short corner, captain Drew Spence found her in the box with a lovely pass in from the right, with Pelova rifling in off the underside of the crossbar.
Eight minutes later it was three, with an illustration of just how high we were pressing as our left-back Blakstad assisted right-back Dijkstra, the former standing up an inch-perfect cross from the left for the latter to nod home at the back post. Substitute Matilda Vinberg’s header was superbly saved by Okuma a little while later, but two minutes from time we piled on the misery for the visitors as Spence released Vinberg in the left channel, her shot was repelled by Okuma and Tandberg gleefully slid home the loose ball. Okuma made one final impressive stop to keep out another Blakstad volley on her line, but it was all smiles from our team at the end as we notched up another highly-impressive win.
Line-ups
Spurs (4-2-3-1): Kop, Dijkstra (Morris 87), Koga, A Nilden (Sombath 90+2), Blakstad, Spence (c), Gaupset (Summanen 82), Holdt (M Nilden 87), Pelova, Hanson (Vinberg 82), Tandberg. Substitutes (not used): Panengstuen, Ahtinen, Martinez, Wijk.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Okuma, Wilms, Patten (c), Harviken, Maritz (Maltby 71), Parker (Kielland 29), Taylor (McAulay 61), Grant (Mullett 61), Kendall, Hijikata (Deslandes 61), Vangsgaard. Substitutes (not used): Ramsey, Murphy, Scott.
Match data
Goals: Spurs – Pelova 55, 73, Dijkstra 81, Tandberg 88.
Yellow cards: Spurs – Gaupset 5, Pelova 44; Aston Villa – Maritz 58, Deslandes 67, McAulay 77.
Referee: Lisa Benn.
Venue: Brisbane Road, Leyton.
Weather: Cloudy, moderate breeze, 21 degrees.
Attendance: 1,038.