Tottenham 4-0 Crystal Palace: High-pressing Spurs too much for WSL newcomers
Despite a well-fought first half, the wheels fell off for Crystal Palace in the second half of their WSL debut. A high-pressing Tottenham side proved too much as the Lilywhites opened their season in style with a 4-0 win.
Summer signing, Hayley Raso, showed her pace to open the scoring in the 19th minute. In a lineup with six new signings, it was Spurs’ mainstays Jessica Naz, Drew Spence, and Olga Ahtinen who then added a goal each after the break.
Breaking it down further
Raso quickly made her mark as she created early chances down the right wing before cutting open the Palace defence and scoring from distance to make it 1-0.
Beyond that goal, the first half was a fairly even contest and Palace were still very much in it going into halftime. However, Tottenham looked a different team after the break as they pressed even higher.
They quickly pinned the Eagles back and a second goal felt inevitable. Crystal Palace needed a goal-line clearance and a fingertip save from Shae Yáñez within the opening five minutes of the second half and it was only a matter of minutes later that Naz doubled the Spurs’ lead.
With eight new signings in the starting 11 and twelve overall in the matchday squad, it’s no surprise the away side hasn’t fulled gelled yet. It was a cut-off pass that led to the Raso goal and a loose pass that gifted Spurs their second. It was Spence who pounced on the loose pass and found Naz who calmly slotted it past the keeper.
The away side visibly deflated after conceding the second goal and Tottenham could’ve done even more damage if not for a handful of sprawling saves from Yáñez.
The Spurs’ third and fourth goals came via their confident and quick link-up play. Spence fired her shot near post under a diving Yáñez. Ahtinen’s was a rocket into the top-left corner that she took from just outside the 18-yard box.
And the afternoon only got worse for Crystal Palace as substitute Brooke Aspin received two yellows in the span of seconds in injury time.
What’s ahead
After the match Crystal Palace manager Laura Kaminski said, “This result does not define our season. We want to be here to stay.”
Despite the scoreline, the promoted side can take positives from how they competed in the first half and the performance of their goalkeeper. With so many new faces, chemistry just takes time. They’ll need to quickly build and recover as their start to the season doesn’t get easier. They face defending champions, Chelsea, on Friday at Selhurst Park.
Tottenham will look to keep their foot on the pedal when they face Aston Villa next Sunday at Villa Park.
