Martin Ho called his side’s display “unacceptable” after Spurs Women needed a late Julie Blakstad equaliser to draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace in the Players Cup on Wednesday night, before losing the shootout for the bonus point 5-3.
Bethany England, Spurs’ former striker and captain, put Palace ahead after 22 minutes at Brisbane Road, and it took a substitute to rescue a point. Blakstad volleyed in Toko Koga’s cross with 15 minutes left, but Shae Yanez saved from Cathinka Tandberg in the shootout and Palace scored all five of theirs.
Tottenham Hotspur Women went into the game on three straight wins in all competitions, the last of them the come-from-behind win over Brighton in the WSL on Sunday. They stay unbeaten in the league phase of the competition, but this was a second shootout defeat under the new format and they sit sixth with two games left.
What did Martin Ho say after the Palace draw?
Ho did not hide his frustration. Speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, he said: “We were nowhere near it in terms of off the ball, with the ball, playing the way we play… we were nowhere near it and for us, that’s unacceptable.”
He was just as blunt about the final third. “In the attacking third we lacked any kind of quality of execution with our final action,” he said. “It’s not enough. We can’t play games of football like that, we can’t step off the gas that much compared to the game we played against Brighton and expect to win the game.”
Why the quadruple change ten minutes into the second half?
Ho made four changes in one go ten minutes after the break, sending on Blakstad, Drew Spence, Olivia Holdt and Tandberg. Asked what he wanted from them, he said: “A response, because we weren’t good enough in that moment. I need more character, more personality, more effort, more desire and a willingness to want to win the game and I wasn’t seeing that.”
It worked, up to a point. Koga delivered from the right and Blakstad timed her run to meet it on the volley, firing across Yanez into the far corner. Holdt then had the chance to win it late on, but her shot from six yards off Amanda Nilden’s cross hit the side-netting.
Spurs Women 1-1 Crystal Palace: how the game went
Ho made six changes from the Brighton win, with Selma Panengstuen, Ella Morris, Hanna Wijk, Matilda Nilden, Kirsty Hanson and Shekiera Martinez all starting. Martinez had scored a hat-trick in the 6-1 Players Cup win over Bristol City last month, and she was the one carving out the chances here, twice working room in the box but both times hitting Yanez.
Crystal Palace sat deep, often with five or six across the back, and Spurs had most of the ball and 16 attempts without making many clear openings. Panengstuen tipped over a Molly-Mae Sharpe header before England raced onto Sharpe’s pass and slotted into the corner.
Spurs Women vs Crystal Palace in numbers
| Detail | Spurs Women | Crystal Palace |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Blakstad 75 | England 22 |
| Shootout | 3 (Gaupset, Spence, Blakstad scored; Tandberg saved) | 5 from 5 |
| Yellow cards | Koga | Weerden, Napier, Enge |
The attendance at Brisbane Road was 531, and Lisa Benn refereed.
A first time with the armband for Koga
Koga captained the side for the first time. Ho explained: “She’s part of our performance group, she was the one on the pitch who is part of that group so it (the armband) goes to her. Hopefully that’ll give her some good experience, confidence and belief in terms of wanting to be a leader and hopefully that’ll bring more out of her.” The Japan defender is also on the shortlist for the FSA women’s player of the year award.
What’s next for Spurs Women in the Players Cup?
The top eight in the league phase reach the quarter-finals. Spurs host Leicester City at Brisbane Road next Wednesday, 18 November (7pm), then finish away to Ipswich Town at Colchester on Wednesday 16 December (7pm).
Verdict: Ho is right to be angry
A point and a shootout defeat is not a disaster in a league phase where eight go through, and the six changes explain some of the rust. But Ho’s anger is the right reaction. Palace set up to defend and Spurs, with a lot of the ball, gave them very little to worry about until the bench came on.
The good news is the response once the experienced players arrived. If Spurs want to go deep in this competition, though, the fringe group needs to show it can carry the standard on its own, starting against Leicester next week.
