'Passive' - Familiar Tottenham problem rears its head as West Ham take derby spoils
Women's football is back and it has been a busy first week back for Robert Vilahamn and Tottenham Hotspur Women.
The WSL season got back under way following the winter break at the weekend, with Spurs picking up a precious three points on their return.
It was not to be the perfect week for Vilahamn's side, however, as they were knocked out of the League Cup by London rivals West Ham in midweek.
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Here football.london takes a look at the week just gone and a look ahead to what's to come for the women's team in N17.
League Cup defeat
It is not to be in the League Cup for the women this season as they bowed out at the quarter-final stage to the Hammers, losing 2-1 at Brisbane Road.
Martha Thomas had given Spurs the lead in the tenth minute with her first goal of the season. She met Amanda Nilden’s corner at the front post and guided a looping header over Megan Walsh and into the far corner.
However, despite hitting the post and dominating the opening exchanges, the lead was somewhat short-lived, as the Hammers turned the tie on its head before half-time with two goals in the space of five minutes.
Seraina Piubel tapped home Emma Harries’ cross from close range and then Kirsty Smith was somewhat fortunate when taking a free-kick from inside her own half that evaded everyone in the Spurs box and somehow found its way into the corner of the net.
Vilahamn made four changes at the break to search for a way back into the game, but despite a number of chances, they could not find an equaliser.
Vilahamn said after the game: “It’s very disappointing. We started the game well and had a beautiful goal from Martha. We then had some really good chances and, although we were not bad after that, we became passive and played backwards more than forwards and probably gave them the chance to come into this game.
“Then, a bad balance in attack, they produce the counterattack and made it 1-1 and then scored from a set-piece to make it 2-1 before half-time, so that gave us a bit of bad momentum for the second half. We made a few changes at the break to make sure we use the squad and bring in new energy but it just wasn’t our day.”
WSL win
Spurs had gone into the League Cup game off the back of a return victory in the Women's Super League, having beaten Leicester City 1-0 on Sunday. Spurs maintained their position in sixth, but closed the gap on fifth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion to three points after the Seagulls lost 2-1 to Liverpool.
The early goal against the Hammers should not have been unexpected, given how Spurs started this one on Sunday, opening the scoring inside four minutes.
Maite Oroz, following some lovely footwork on the edge of the box, played Amanda Nilden through on the left side of the box and she fired a low ball across the face of the goal which was turned into her own net by Foxes goalkeeper Janina Leitzig.
That was to be the only goal of the game as Lize Kop - making her debut in goal for Spurs following he move from Leicester - kept a clean sheet. That was only Spurs' second of the campaign to date.
Nilden spoke to SpursPlay afterwards and said: "I mean, you need a bit luck sometimes. But I just tried to put the ball in the areas we have talked about and it’s hard to defend the ball when you’re running towards goal.
"This was so important for us...to get the three points. We have not played a game for a long time so, three points in a game like this, it’s not beautiful, but three points is always three points so we’re very happy with that."
Coming up
Tottenham will be looking to make it back-to-back wins on their return to WSL action as they make the short trip to face Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Eagles are bottom of the WSL currently with just one win toe their name all season.
With Brighton taking on Manchester United away, victory could see Spurs go level on points with the Seagulls in fifth place in the table.
It is another busy week for the women's team, with a trip to Everton to follow in midweek in the FA Cup. It is a fourth round clash in Merseyside with an away game against five-time winners Chelsea the reward in the last 16.
