Tottenham Hotspur FCW 1-3 Chelsea FCW, WSL: Post-match reaction

Every Women’s Super League match is a “must-win” for Chelsea as we don’t want to leave our title-defence success at the hands of anyone else but ourselves. That means beating Tottenham twice in a row, both away and at home, after several delays to our encounters with Spurs due mostly to COVID-19 circumstances.

Chelsea were the first to try at goal with an Erin Cuthbert attempt from range that went wide. However the Blues let the hosts at The Hive Stadium grow into the game and from a corner kick, Sophie Ingle scored an unfortunate own goal in Tottenham’s favour.

Urgency increased and Chelsea ventured forward with a bit more venom, although not as effectively as we would hope. That until Guro Reiten, with might, technique and a bit of luck, scored the tying goal from what was likely a crossing attempt in the box.

The visitors kept pushing forward but defence and especially midfield play was suspicious on our part. In one such occasion Aniek Nouwen was caught off-guard and Ann-Katrin Berger, starting a WSL game for the first time since February, had to step out of the box to defend her goal. She committed a foul on Spurs striker Rachel Williams and as the last woman on the line, she got a straight red card for the offence even though the ball was not heading towards the goal.

We clearly weren’t ready to play at a one-woman disadvantage, and Tottenham would try their hardest to make use of that. But Zecira Musovic, called into action following Berger’s expulsion as a substitute to Beth England, provided quality goalkeeping when called into action to keep the 1-1 scoreline at the half.

Pernille Harder and Magda Eriksson entered the match at the half, in an attempt to shake things up for the Blues. Still the one-woman disadvantage was felt as on even conditions, it is likely Chelsea would not be having as much trouble as they were facing Spurs.

Close shaves on both ends forced good interventions by the keepers. And Tottenham’s would be the one to fall. Out of a good Jonna Andersson cross from the left, Sam Kerr rose inside the box and struck a good header to put Chelsea in the lead against the hosts at the Hive.

The Spurs tried their hardest at frustrating Chelsea’s plans by finding a tying goal of their own. However they just lacked the quality upfront that we have to make it so. Instead Chelsea would score a third “making sure” goal with an amazing Jessie Fleming long-range effort.

Carefree and still in the lead!

• No changes made in the lineup that beat Arsenal 2-0 in the FA Cup semifinal last weekend. That means Ann-Katrin Berger returning to WSL football after more than two months with Zecira Musovic taking over.
• Subs are Zecira Musovic for Beth England — forced by Ann-Katrin Berger’s red card, Pernille Harder for Ji So-yun, Magda Eriksson for Aniek Nouwen, Jonna Andersson for Niamh Charles, and Jessie Fleming for Guro Reiten.
• That was a rather questionable DOGSO. Oh well.
• Even before the red card Chelsea were not up to standards. This team really needs some serious upgrades in central midfield.
• Much better football from half-time on, even if not as dominant as we’d want to.
• ...and of course, Kerr scores our second. You could’ve seen it coming from miles away!
• Next up: Tottenham again (!), this time at Kingsmeadow in the WSL.
• KTBFFH!