Aston Villa 2-4 Tottenham Hotspur
by Rachel Cohen at Bescot Stadium for Impetus (22/10/23).
Above: Tottenham celebrate as Martha Thomas hit a hat-trick at Bescot Stadium yesterday. Photo: Barclays WSL.
This was a game in which two things were confirmed: Spurs score goals and Aston Villa really miss Kirsty Hanson and Kenza Dali.
Or maybe that should be: Martha Thomas scores goals. The Scottish forward has discovered a rich vein of form since transferring to Spurs from Manchester United, where she was a sparsely-used substitute last season. Already this season she has scored in every WSL and Conti Cup game she has played in. But here she upped the ante, getting a hattrick, the first ever by a Tottenham player across the team’s four-and-some seasons in the WSL.
But this game was not simply the Martha Thomas show.
Indeed, it was Villa who started the brighter, with a penalty after just five minutes following an attack down the right-hand side which produced a loose ball on the edge of the box. Both Eveliina Summanen and Adriana Leon went for it, but Summanen was late and raised her boot around Leon. It was a clear-cut penalty and Villa’s star striker, Rachel Daly, does not miss penalties. This one was sent hard to the left of Spurs keeper, Becky Spencer.
From that point, the first half was end to end. For Villa, Ebony Salmon demonstrated her skill on the ball with a couple of driving runs down the left, Jordan Nobbs looked lively, and Laura Blindkilde Brown was making good use of overloads on the right. Meanwhile, for the first half hour, the Villa defence held their line, several times resulting in Thomas being called offside in what would otherwise have been promising attacks.
But that changed on 33 minutes with Thomas’s equaliser. This was an archetypally Spurs-era Thomas goal. One that could be described as opportunistic, but that would be to ignore that this was an opportunity that Thomas produced for herself by pressing and then pouncing, something that she has shown herself unparalleled at. It started with her bearing down on her Scottish national teammate Rachel Corsie, who attempted an ill-judged pass, Thomas blocked it, took the ball, turned, spotted Daphne van Domselaar off her line, and sent a lob over the keeper and into the net.
After the game, Thomas commented that the lob was her favourite of the three goals she scored because “When I hit it, I said, ‘Why did I do that?’ but then it went in and I was like: ‘Okay. Happy days.’”
Thomas also provided insight into how she so regularly creates goals from defensive mistakes: “I take a lot of pride from defending from the front and making defenders feel uncomfortable. So, I just work on it. And my goal when I’m pressing is to make defenders think about where I am instead of them sort of control the tempo.”
As the game continued the chances continued for both sides. Danielle Turner fired a scorcher just wide. Jessica Naz fired over and wide.
And then in the last seconds of first-half injury time, Spurs’ two longest-serving players combined. The move began with Naz taking the ball deep into the corner and crossing for Ashleigh Nevillle who headed it across the goal and the keeper.
It was nearly the final kick of the half and the second game in a row in which Spurs have got a goal right before halftime.
The second half began as frenetically as the first half had ended. As neither team took control both managers looked to the substitute bench. The biggest impact initially came from the introduction of Maz Pacheco who increased the energy – both on the field and in the stands, where she was greeted with a huge roar from the Villa support. But it was perhaps Drew Spence’s ability to add robustness to Spurs midfield that eventually paid off.
On 63 minutes Spence forced a save from van Domselaar. Spurs got a corner that was not cleared. Eventually, Luana Bühler headed the ball towards Clinton who tapped it back to Thomas who had a clear sight of goal to fire home her second and Tottenham’s third.
Thomas’s fourth on 72 minutes involved three players new to Spurs this summer. It started in the defensive third, with Clinton, who picked up the ball and found Olga Ahtinen inside the half. Ahtinen then played a perfectly weighted ball for Thomas to run onto, ahead of Villa’s defenders. Then, with the confidence of a striker on form, she casually lifted it over van Domselaar and in.
It could have been an even better day for Thomas who was clean through on goal again just four minutes later. But she was dragged down by Corsie, who was not having the best of days.
There continued to be chances for both teams, but the game lost a little energy. It was clear that the chance of a comeback was slim. It felt like even the referee had decided that there was little left to play for with the fourth official indicating just five minutes of injury time, in comparison to the eight to twelve minutes that has been the norm this WSL season.
But there was still time for more action. In previous weeks Villa have lost games to injury-time goals against both Manchester United and Arsenal. This time it was their turn to score at the death as, against the run of play, in the 95th minute Villa won a corner. Rachel Corsie at the far post got the second ball, and toe-poked a shot on target. Spencer made a great reaction save but the ball came out to Lucy Parker who, from a congested area, headed straight at the goal and to Spencer’s left.
And that was it. The game barely restarted after the goal before the final whistle went.
Teams: ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): van Domselaar, Turner, Corsie, Patten, Parker, Nobbs, Blindkilde, Staniforth,Salmn, Daly, Leon. Substitutes: Mayling, McLoughlin, Magill, Pacheco.
Scorers: Daly 5’, Parker 90+5′.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-3-3): Spencer, Neville, Bartrip, Bühler, James, Summanen, Clinton, Ahtinen, Naz, Thomas, Bizet Ildhusøy. Substitutes: Spence, Ale, Zhang, Graham.
Scorers: Thomas 33′, 64′, 72′. Neville 45’+5′.
Referee: Lauren Impey.
Attendance: 2,810.
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