Tottenham Women 0-3 Arsenal: We reap what we sow

A year ago in the same match, Tottenham Hotspur Women showed a real sign of intent and improvement in the WSL, scoring a late goal against Arsenal and holding off a flurry of attacks en route to their first ever North London Derby Women’s win.

They couldn’t recreate the same magic this season. Arsenal got a goal after just 65 seconds from Alessia Russo, another from Frida Maanum and added a third goal midway through the second half from Stina Blackstenius as the Gunners rolled to a comfortable 3-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Tottenham, on the other hand, were on the back foot all game, barely had a sniff of a goal and didn’t look like a team trying to push into the upper echelons of the WSL.

It was not easy to see. Arsenal dominated possession 60%-40%, had a 13-3 shot advantage and blasted Spurs into oblivion from the opening kick. Spurs were able to claw their way back into the game somewhat in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent another disappointing NLD loss.

Sorry to be such a depress-o-thon today, but there really weren’t that many positives to take from this match. Here are my reactions.

Match reactions

• For the second game in a row, Tottenham gave up a big goal against a big opponent on a big stage inside two minutes. This time it was Russo who took advantage of a lucky deflection, split the defensive line and slotted past Becky Spencer. Spurs have been plagued by defensive lapses this season. This was another one as Clare Hunt didn’t shut Russo down.
• Arsenal’s pressing is exceptional but the early goal left Spurs shell-shocked. At one point, Jessica Naz picked up a loose ball at midfield and immediately sent it backwards to Becky Spencer, which doesn’t bode well when you’re already behind.
• A few small signs of life late in the first half as Beth England forced a quality save from a long shot and then earned a pair of corner kicks.
• Tottenham worked their way back into the game somewhat late in the first half, but by then they had already conceded two goals. You’re not going to win too many games if you do that.
• One of the big differences between last year’s team and this year’s team is the presence of a playmaking midfield. Without Grace Clinton or Kit Graham, and with Maite Oroz injured, Spurs have no one who can effectively facilitate attacks from midfield. Drew Spence had a particularly awful game. And the lack of decent midfield pressure means that the backline and goalkeeper are under a lot more pressure. You really saw that today. The Spurs couldn’t get the ball to Beth England, Hayley Raso or Jessica Naz in space or even NOT in space, killing any potential offense early.
• Although they are a cross below where they often are, Arsenal are still a very good team and that gulf between them and Spurs was incredibly evident on Saturday. You don’t necessarily expect a win against the teams at the top of the table, but you at least want them to look competitive. The Spurs didn’t.
• This is a truly depressing list of struggles and I wish it wasn’t, but Spurs really haven’t given fans much to cheer about this season, reflecting the club’s lack of squad reinforcements in the summer. Arsenal were able to bring Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius off the bench today; they would be Spurs’ best players this season. We reap what we sow.