Chelsea beat Tottenham in London derby

Photo: Chelsea FC Women

Tottenham Women 0-1 Chelsea Women

On Sunday the 4th May, Chelsea travelled to North London for the London Derby against rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues had already secured their sixth consecutive WSL title and aimed to maintain their invincible winning streak.

Contrastingly, Spurs’ last league win was the 26th January and they sat at 10th position on the table.

From the offset, Tottenham endured a spell of early posession, resulting in a promising chance coming in the 7th minute. 

Bethany England made a fantastic run and went on to produce an excellent cross into the box for Charlotte Grant. To the disapppointment of the Spurs fans, she failed to connect to the end of the cross and the ball continued across the face of goal.

Nevertheless, Spurs showed positive signs and were forcing the reigning WSL Champions, Chelsea, under significant pressure.

Tottenham then found themselves with another opportunity in the final third, this time a chance for Olivia Holdt to try a volley but it was ultimately blocked by the Scottish midfielder, Erin Cuthbert.

Chelsea were growing nervy and unable to maintain posession for an extended period of time, lacing desicive urgency. The Blues were also playing with 9 changes in comparison to their previous starting lineup, a mid week meeting against Manchester United.

Over time, chances were being created down both ends of the pitch and the game was turning out to be an even tie. In the 34th minute, Ashley Neville gave away a penalty to Catarina Macario who hit a powerful shot into the left side of the net gifting the Blues the lead in North London.

Soon after, Spurs found themselves with a chance to equalise before half time. Grant took Hannah Hampton on in a 1 v 1, which the Chelsea Goalkeeper won and competently saved Grant’s attempt.  

Chelsea went in on top at the break, yet Tottenham had made some positive  sequences of play with the home crowd advantage serving as their 12th player.

Early on in the second half, Eveliina Summanen took a free kick which narrowly missed the goal by the near post. Later on, Maika Hamano released a strong strike that was impressively saved by Lize Kop keeping a comeback alive for her side.

Sonia Bompastor then made the decision to bring on the renowned Nathalie Bjorn and Naomi Girma to bring composure and calmness to their game.

Following this, Spurs had a few good spells finding success down the wings and in counter attacks, but Chelsea generally had the upper hand.

Lola Brown was then given the opportunity to come on as a substitute and showcase her talent on the big stage at just 17 years old. She made an immediate impact helping out her team both attacking and defensively.

Chelsea grew more comfortable under pressure finding it easier to keep the Lilywhites out the game and pose more of a threat to the opposing side.

Kop pulled of an incredible late double save in response to strikes from Ashley Lawrence and Nusken who tried their luck to increase their goal difference.

After 6 minutes of added time, the game ended after a cluster of chances coming at both ends which generally summed up today’s game.

Teams:

Tottenham Hotspur: Lize Kop, Ella Morris, Clare Hunt, Molly Bartrip, Ashley Neville, Eveliina Summanen, Drew Spence, Olivia Holdt, Charlotte Grant, Jessica Naz, Bethany England ©    

Head Coach: Robert Vilahamn

Substitutes used: Matilda Vinberg, Amanda Nilden, Martha Thomas, Lena Gunning-Williams

Chelsea Women: Hannh Hampton, Ashley Lawrence, Maelys Mpome, Sjoeke Nusken, Guro Reiten, Oriane Jean-Francois, Erin Cuthbert ©, Catarina Macario, Johanna Rytting Kanyerd, Mia Fishel, Maika Hamano

Head Couch: Sonia Bompastor

Substitutes used: Weike Kaptein, Nathalie Bjorn, Naomi Girma, Lola Brown, Aggie Beever-Jones

Scorers: Catarina Macario