Tottenham Hotspur Women smushsed Aston Villa at home with an attacking performance for the ages. The 4-0 victory saw Spurs into second place (where we’ll stay unless Chelsea beats Arsenal by at least 6 goals today, and well, I wouldn’t really complain about that), with standout performances from Drew Spence, Victoria Pelova and Caitlin Dijkstra.
We’re onto our third of five games in two weeks, so Martin Ho has to be a bit careful about team selection to balance squad strength with player wellness. Only Olivia Holdt and Amanda Nildén retained their places from the lineup that drew 0-0 at West Ham and lost on penalties at midweek, though this is the same squad that decimated Crystal Palace 7-0 last weekend. I suppose selecting a centerback (albeit a very passy one) at right fullback makes up for having four players on the pitch who have started for Spurs in the number 10 role at some point in their careers.
Let’s cut to the chase – the WSL doesn’t have goal line technology and that means sometimes you get a real clanker of a decision. We were on the receiving end of that today. Caitlin Dijkstra had the ball in the net early, but apparently the ref was fooled by the goalkeeper’s forceful clearance because the goal wasn’t given. That seemed to ruffle our feathers a little bit – we had plenty of attacking opportunities but the end product seemed a bit frantic and rushed. With 16 shots to Villa’s 5, 2.35 xG to Villa’s 0.45, 65% of the possession and 25 touches in Villa’s box, we went into halftime 0-0.
Martin Ho made no halftime personnel changes, but the side emerged with a new intensity. Spurs began their attacking rampage in the 54th minute. Olivia Holdt did well to maintain possession of the ball on the wing and play in Signe Gaupset between two Villa defenders. Gaupset’s cross was palmed out by the goalkeeper, but Victoria Pelova was lurking in the center of the box to direct it home. The goal seemed to build the team’s confidence, and Villa hardly touched the ball for the rest of the half.
Pelova doubled the score in the 73rd minute on a corner. Julie Blakstad played the ball short to Drew Spence, who found Pelova in space with a lovely defense-splitting pass, and Pelova only had eyes for the big, empty space between the goalkeeper’s outstretched hand and the crossbar. Apparently, we’re good at set pieces now because Caitlin Dijkstra scored our third on a powerful header from a corner (which, if you want to get technical, was her second goal from a set piece this day 😒).
I was waiting all game for Tinka Tandberg to open her scoring account for the year, and she finally did as the game drew to a close. This is pretty much the exact goal Martin Ho teams are trying to score at all times – energetic pressing starting high at the goalkeeper to win back the ball, snappy one-touch passing to set up the chance, and Tinka crashing the goal to put away the rebound. If you’re feeling down at all about the men’s team, just watch this goal on repeat and I promise you’ll start to feel better. Please enjoy some numbers from that crazy showing:
Thoughts
I can’t believe I’m not talking about Victoria Pelova first, but Drew Spence… wtf. Where is the player who worked hard but hardly ever sprinted, who was good on her day but faded badly after 60 minutes and was never really able to control a game? She was FABULOUS in this game, and in fact, she has been all season! Drew was everywhere, on the ball all the time, threading together pass after pass, even dribbling some players and making 30 yard recovery sprints to stop Villa counterattacks. Her performance really spoke for itself, so all I have to add is a hearty “hell yeah, Drew!!!” and note for the record that if you want to see a midfield masterclass you should go back and watch it.
Now onto the double goalscorer and, if not for Drew Spence, the undisputed player of the match. Today we saw the Victoria Pelova we hoped we’d see. Whatever rust she had after her ACL injury seems well and truly gone, and she’s shining. She, along with Drew Spence, Signe Gaupset (who also had a typically excellent game) and Olivia Holdt, have this wonderful ability to keep the attack moving around the opposition box with tricky little passes and plenty of creative movement. I’m so excited to see how she does against the stronger opposition we’ll be facing in the coming month.
Caitlin Dijkstra didn’t have a lot to do defensively, and I was wondering whether we might get to see Ella Morris, who I love to watch as an attacker. But Caitlin sure made me eat my words – she’s totally competent on the ball and can do that job, but mostly, she was a total menace on corners from start to finish. She and Ella Morris are both proving themselves to be great and different options at fullback. I hate that I have to choose between two bad b- *vaudevillian cane yanks me offstage*
Sometimes I start to worry about Tinka and then she immediately shuts me up. Don’t get me wrong, she does so much well for such a young striker. Her pressing has been great this year, she’s developed a decent pass, she’s dominant in hold up play, and you can tell she has a lot of communication, energy, and team-forward thinking on the pitch. But sometimes with this team full of dribbly, goal-scoring attackers, she doesn’t get the service. This is partially the team around her – Pelova, Holdt, Gaupset, Hanson are almost always going to be shooting for themselves – but it’s also where she positions herself and when she’s asking for the ball. Like today, for instance, she only got two shots out of our 35. I’d love to see her getting into better positions and getting more shots, but in the end, she got a goal anyway, and well, that’s what counts!
I loved to see our substitutes – Eveliina Summanen, Matilda Vinberg, Matilda Nildén, Ella Morris and briefly Alice Sombath – continuing to force the issue right up until the end and even featuring prominently in our final goal. I’m not sure we’ve ever had real quality to see out a game like that, and it was a real cherry on top of a beautiful performance. It’ll be interesting to see what they can do against London City, Chelsea, and Arsenal where we might not have as much control of the game.
Looking Ahead
Before our difficult run, we have Brighton in the cup. Brighton are yet to win a game in the league and sit in 11th place in the WSL, though they smashed Charlton 4-0 in their opening game of the Player’s cup. They’ve got plenty of quality, and their struggles are largely due to their highly rated manager departing a week before the season started. They’ll probably get better and better as the season goes on, although they may not reach the heights they did last year.
Last week, we saw a heavily rotated side fail to find their footing against West Ham. We can’t really afford to do the same this week against Brighton, given this cup may be our only chance to win silverware this year. But no more can we afford to turn out a tired team against London City Lionesses, who have real quality all over the pitch and are strongly in contention alongside us for those Champions League spots. Personally, I’d rest Olivia Holdt for this one since she’s started three in a row and gotten a ton of minutes. She’ll be electric coming off the bench against Brighton and I’d like her strong for London City. We have plenty of attackers who rested midweek last week to come in in her place – Signe Gaupset, Kirsty Hanson and Victoria Pelova to name a few.
Isn’t it so nice to be excited to watch our rotation players? This is great. Hopefully I’ll be singing a similar tune after the match on Wednesday, but for now, let’s just bask in the glow of a deserved, comprehensive win.
