Yahoo Sports WSL: Bethany England header secures Spurs point against Aston Villa
The latest of late Bethany England headers rescued a point for a below par Tottenham Hotspur side against Aston Villa on Sunday. Goals from Adriana Leon and Rachel Daly were enough to move Villa into eighth spot while Spurs sit third in the table.
Eveliina Summanen scored the opening goal for Spurs but Villa hit back late on to grab a 2-1 lead. England’s stoppage time header was enough to scrape a point for the visiting side.
Starting XIs
Robert de Pauw made one change to the Villa side that performed so well against Chelsea in their opening fixture. Kirsty Hanson came in for Lucy Staniforth. For Robert Vilahamn, it was the same starting 11 that opened Tottenham’s campaign with a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Aston Villa
D’Angelo; Tomas, Patten, Kearns, Nobbs, Daly, Dali, Parker, Maritz, Hanson, Grant
Tottenham
Spencer; Bartrip, Nilden, Naz, Raso, Oroz, Hunt, Thomas, Spence, Summanen, Neville
How it went
The hosts took control of proceedings early on in a theme that would continue throughout the afternoon. Rachel Daly had the ball in the net in the seventh minute as she neatly chested down Jordan Nobbs’ long through ball. Becky Spencer was beaten by Daly’s volley but the celebrations were halted when the referee raised the flag.
After 22 minutes, Tottenham were given a golden opportunity to take the lead against the run of play. A shot from Hayley Raso — who was so impressive last weekend — was cleared off the line. That led to a foot race between Tomás and Drew Spence as the Spurs midfielder was bundled over.
The referee pointed to the spot and Summanen stepped up and confidently sent Sabrina D’Angelo the wrong way to give the visitors the lead. The setback did little to faze the Villans and they quickly reasserted themselves on the game. However as half-time approached, their good play had yielded little in the way of clear-cut chances as Tottenham took a barely-deserved lead into the break.
The interval did little to change the game and De Pauw’s side picked up where they left off. A misplaced pass from Spencer landed at the feet of Missy-Bo Kearns. She might’ve taken the shot on herself, but opted to square to Daly who sliced her overhead kick wide.
Tottenham were living dangerously. A Charity Grant shot that whistled over the bar from a narrow angle and a blocked effort from Noëlle Maritz were yet more signs of Villa’s intent. The home side eventually got the goal they deserved with just over 12 minutes left on the clock. The goal however, was a mess entirely of Tottenham’s own doing.
Read more: Robert Vilahamn on Tottenham Hotspur’s rise, summer signings and UWCL dream
A poor giveaway from Clare Hunt presented Nobbs with the ball. Wasting no time, she moved the ball forward to Daly who was supported by substitute Adriana Leon on the overlap. The Canadian international made no mistake to curl home and finally break the Spurs resistance.
That set up a chaotic finish to the game. Villa looked to have won it with 88 minutes played. A long ball forward from Lucy Parker was headed home by Daly. Spencer was left stranded after the former England international looped the header over her.
The Lilywhites rescued a point in the 95th minute thanks to England’s headed effort. The goal owed a lot to the play of Amanda Nildén, who did remarkably well to keep Molly Bartrip’s cross-field ball in play on the Villa byline.
The Swede sent in an even better cross that was headed home to the delight of the travelling Spurs fans. It was a frustrating end to the afternoon for Villa, who should’ve taken all three points. However, there were plenty of positives to take away as they head into their League Cup fixture against Crystal Palace.
