Tottenham Hotspur Women drew 0-0 against Manchester United on Sunday. The game was much more even than previous renditions of the matchup, and Spurs were unlucky to come out of it with only one point.
There were a couple surprises in the lineup. Bethany England missed out on the squad due to a knock, and Eveliina Summanen was on the bench. Ella Morris came in for Hanna Wijk (who missed out due to an MCL injury), a big call considering Ella had only played 15 competitive minutes since her ACL injury last year. Otherwise, injuries late in the season have left Martin Ho with a squad that basically selected itself.
Spurs started with a solid spell of possession that failed to turn into more. A flurry of shots leading in the 13th minute ended with the ball rolling wide on a deflection. After a winter of disorganization, Ho’s cobbled-together defense finally looked organized tidying up after United’s spells of attack. United only registered one off-target shot in the first half. Spurs had a spell of (largely set piece) activity in United’s box toward the end of the half but couldn’t capitalize on that, either.
The second half was similar. Spurs were solid in possession but wasteful in the final third. Signe Gaupset rolled one slightly wide in the 65th minute after Spurs took a dangerous free kick, and minutes later, Drew Spence put a shot wide of the back post. Ho only made two substitutions in the match. Lenna Gunning-Williams came on for Tinka Tandberg in the 81st minute, and Eveliina Summanen replaced Olivia Holdt (who looked to be suffering with what I hope was just a calf cramp) in the 90th minute.
Thoughts
It was good to see the team clicking again, albeit against an exhausted-looking United side who have had to balance the Champions League on top of all the other games teams normally play. Spurs outshot United 22(5) - 10(3). It was a shame so few of those were on target, but it is promising to see Spurs string together a performance in which they possessed the ball and created chances while also limiting the opponent.
Ella Morris was incredible against United. I was a bit worried seeing her in the starting lineup since she didn’t look herself in her short cameo against Chelsea, but I think it’s safe to say she’s back. She dominated up and down the right wing in both attack and defense, and she looked lively and explosive. At one point I even saw her nutmeg United’s Rolfö (and worth noting Olivia Holdt got in her cheeky nutmeg on Rolfö as well). I’m absolutely thrilled about this. Ella was one of the only bright points in that abysmal 24/25 season, and I loved watching her. Now we just need to make sure she stays healthy and on the pitch!
Looking Ahead
There are two matches left in the season – London City Lionesses and Brighton. Our squad is somewhat depleted, and both our opponents have been flying high (Brighton in particular beat Manchester City over the weekend, not many teams get to say that). Winning both games may be tough, but I’ll be looking for Spurs to continue some of the positive patterns we’ve seen before hopefully strengthening over the summer.