Sports Gazette

An own goal from new Leicester signing and former Tottenham player Ashleigh Neville gave her former side all three points today at Brisbane Road in a 1-0 win to the home side. Tottenham dominated the game and were unlucky not to win by multiple goals.

Spurs and Leicester jostled for possession throughout the opening exchanges, with Spurs taking the lion’s share of the ball. Neither side threatened to break into the opposition’s third, with most of Tottenham’s ventures being ruled offside.

Tottenham worked a good chance just before the 20th minute, with an incisive collection of one-touch passes creating an opening down the right channel. The ball was worked down the byline, but the cut back was swept away to safety.

The clearance did more for Leicester than just remove the Tottenham danger; it created their own. Midfielder Sarah Mayling burst down the line with the ball and drilled it across the box, but striker Emily van Egmond took a heavy touch and made a difficult angle for herself, resulting in her shot being straight at goalkeeper Lize Kop.

Leicester’s best chances of the first half came from sloppy Tottenham passing. Defender Sari Kees intercepted the ball on the halfway line, and looked to unleash winger Hannah Cain, but the pair got their feet muddled up and their opportunity to punish Spurs 30 minutes in went away.

Sensing Spurs’ shakiness, Leicester began to more aggressively press higher up the pitch. Tottenham were unable to get the ball out of their own third, and eventually Kop gave the ball away. The goalkeeper’s blushes were spared as the recipient was too far away to make a real chance of the gift.

But Tottenham’s passing was anything but shaky in the final third. Thirty-eight minutes in, Singe Gaupset, Bethany England, and Olivia Holdt had some beautiful interplay, completely cutting apart the visitors’ defence to give Gaupset a sight on goal. The chance was saved and the linesman raised his flag, but the combinations were worthy of a goal.

Just as Tottenham had earned themselves a goal in open play, they actually scored one from a set piece. An in-swung corner was aimed at the near post, but Leicester City midfielder Ashleigh Neville turned it past her own keeper and into the net at the 40th minute, giving Tottenham a 1-0 lead at the break.

Neville appeared to forget which side she was playing for; she returned to Brisbane Road as a Leicester City player to make her debut having left just Tottenham.

Silky passing continued after the restart, with England threading in winger Matilda Vinberg, just inside the box. The Swede was one-on-one with the keeper, but elected to take an extra touch which allowed the defence to recover and prevented a shot. Tottenham could have doubled their lead just six minutes into the second half.

Leicester started to get a foothold on the game in the 70th minute, playing some combinations down the right-hand side to create openings, but they were unable to convert them, or really test Kop anymore than a routine save.

Substitute Noémie Mouchon fought for the ball down the wing, eventually making her way past two Tottenham defenders before getting a short cross into the box. Shannon O’Brien was waiting at the near post and poked the cross goalwards, but was unable to convert the chance and the ball bounced out by the near bottom corner, with just ten minutes remaining.

With five minutes left, Clare Hunt missed the best chance of the game. Clarke pushed away a long-range effort from outside the box, but the keeper left the ball bouncing at her back post, where Hunt was lurking. The Australian had a tap-in into an empty net, but instead struck the post from inside the six-yard box, and the ball went out for a goal kick, sparing Clark’s blushes.

In the dying moments of the 90th, yet another Tottenham chance went begging. Tōko Koga ventured forward from her normal defensive position to get on the end of another well-delivered cross. Stood on the edge of the six-yard box, she was unable to get the effort on target.

Only a minute later, England had the best shot of the game, bursting through the Leicester City defence and slotting the ball towards the far bottom corner. Had it not been for the trailing leg of Clark, it would have been an excellent goal, but the goalkeeper made a top save to tip it behind for a corner.

It’s matchday in North London. Tottenham Hotspur are at home to Ipswich Town, the last remaining team in the Premier League without a win.

If Newcastle beat Nottingham Forest away and their two biggest rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, draw at Stamford Bridge, Spurs can go into the last international break of the year in third.

So what happens? Newcastle, despite going 1-0 down, manage to turn it around and win 3-1 in Nottingham. Chelsea and Arsenal draw 1-1 in a fiercely competitive London derby.

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And Spurs? Spurs, as they so often do, flatter to deceive. They crumble to a pathetic 2-1 loss to hand Ipswich their first win of the season. They finish a matchday that they could have been third by the end of, languishing in tenth.

Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou this time last year had an infinite amount of goodwill with most Spurs fans. They sat top of the league after ten games and they were playing exciting attacking football.

It felt like the feelgood factor that had been missing since the days of Mauricio Pochettino were finally back at White Hart Lane.

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Twelve months on and some sections of the fanbase are starting to lose patience. The lack of a plan B and the unsustainable emphasis on entertainment and attack are commonly referenced grievances for fans.

After the Ipswich defeat, Ange himself came out in more than one instance saying that it was his responsibility, his fault, and down to him to rectify what went wrong.

This kind of rhetoric is not new for Ange, but this time feels pivotally different. It feels rawer and more explicit than we have seen from the Australian.

Maybe it’s a stronger desire than ever to show that his assertion that he wins trophies in his second season wasn’t prematurely spoken.

Fans

But are the fans ready to wait? #AngeOut has been trending and Spurs fans are becoming more vocal in their disapproval of the way things are going.

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This was shown in boos echoing around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half time of the Ipswich game, at which point they were losing 2-0.

Spurs fans are tired of repetitive failures in the crucial moments. It is something that the club, the fans and the players are ruthlessly mocked for by rivals. They even have a word named after it, “Spursy.”

Mentality

Yet, this is also a Spurs team that has won the second most points after falling behind than anyone since the beginning of last season only behind the relentless juggernaut that is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

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This statistic should, in theory, reduce the “Spursy” moniker to nothing but a bad memory. It proves that in moments, they can be resolute and come back from adversity.

And yet the Ipswich game proves once again that Spurs are the kings of missed opportunities and false dawns. The more things change, the more things stay the same at Tottenham Hotspur.

Rodrigo Bentancur

To add insult to injury, reports are that Rodrigo Bentancur will be banned for a number of games. This is after his allegedly racially insulting comments towards captain Son Heung-min over the summer.

Bentancur was their only goal scorer in the defeat to Ipswich, and has been a crucial player under Ange Postecoglou this season, featuring in all but one league game.

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One of their most crucial players being banned right at a time when they enter an unforgiving run of games is, despite it being out of their hands, very typical of Tottenham Hotspur.

His ill-advised actions have landed him in hot water at the worst possible time. It’s given Ange Postecoglou another selection headache that he really didn’t need.

What next?

Spurs’ run of games until the new year could potentially make or break their season. Manchester City away after the international break doesn’t make their job any easier.

Home games against league leaders Liverpool and bitter rivals Chelsea follow in December, as well as a Carabao Cup quarter final against Manchester United. That game against United is extra crucial as it presents an excellent opportunity for a trophy.

Spurs’ big game credentials this season have not been the problem, however. They’ve already thumped Man United and Aston Villa in the league whilst knocking Man City out of the Carabao Cup.

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It will the games interspersed between the big ones; Fulham at home and Southampton away that will be the challenge. They need to be able to actually win the games they’re expected to win.

A title charge seems far from likely now, but they are only three points behind rivals Chelsea in third. It is a tightly congested and exceedingly competitive table, with only four points separating 3rd and 13th­.

Tottenham Hotspur are by no means a lost cause. They need to turn this around, and fast, if they want any chance of achieving the success the club, the players and the fans have been starved of for so long.

Camila Saez gifted a stoppage time victory to Tottenham Hotspur in the side’s first win since the opening weekend against Rehanne Skinner’s still-winless West Ham.

Eighth-place Tottenham faced the Hammers at Brisbane Road, as Robert Vilahamn’s Spurs looked for their first victory since the opening game of the season.

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In a cagey first half where Tottenham had the lion’s share of the chances, it was the Hammers who went ahead thanks to a Riko Ueki header that ricocheted off the bar.

Spurs missed multiple early opportunities, as Bethany England put one over the bar after six minutes and had another ruled out for offside in the 27 minutes in.

The hosts struggled against the Irons’ offside trap, and the visitors were able to capitalise on Spurs’ failure to score ten minutes before the half-time whistle.

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The half ended in a state of high tension, as referee Melissa Burgin booked three players in as many minutes just before the break.

It was England who equalised from close range for Spurs just five minutes into the second half, and Martha Thomas, who is still searching for her first goal in 2024, came close moments later.

After another 45 minutes in which both sides missed good chances, it was a mistake from West Ham’s Camila Saez that gifted three points to the home side.