It was a London derby in the Women’s League Cup, as Charlton Athletic hosted Tottenham Hotspur at The Valley.
Robert Vilahamn made a plethora of chances from Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in the Barclays Women’s Super League last Sunday, as eight Tottenham players made way in the opening group stage fixture of the Women’s League Cup. Anna Csiki, Bethany England, Olga Ahtinen, Luana Bühler, Matilda Vinberg, Charli Grant, Lenna Gunning-Williams, and goalkeeper Katelin Talbert all made their way into the starting lineup.
Former Lilywhite Ellie Brazil comes up against her old side, having already scored three goals in four games since signing for Charlton in the summer.
The Lineups
CHA: Whitehouse; Pearse, Skeels, Newsham, Roe, Bashford, Bradley, O’Rourke, Humphrey, Primus, Brazil
TOT: Talbert; Grant, Bartrip, Bühler, Neville, Ahtinen, Oroz, Csiki, Gunning-Williams, Vinberg, England
The Action
It was Tottenham who would open the scoring at The Valley, as Matilda Vinberg swung in a cross from an opportunistic free-kick in down the right side. Luana Bühler would be there to poach the scraps at the back post and chip-in the opener after Sophie Whitehouse failed to make the save.
Lenna Gunning-Williams liked her chances from distance, as the Tottenham number 31 struck her attempt just-high of the crossbar to deny Spurs of their second of the evening.
A head clash between Charli Grant and Ellie Brazil saw the pair down receiving treatment, but both were deemed fit to continue for their respective sides.
Tottenham continued to threaten the Addicks defence, as Olga Ahtinen played a swopping cross-field ball into the area, but Vinberg misjudged the flight for her header attempt as the ball continued it’s course across goal.
Charlton would breakthrough for their first real chance of the evening, as Carla Humphrey beat Bethany England in a foot race before swinging a high cross into the area. Brazil would jump up to meet the flight, but her looping header was easily cleaned up by Katelin Talbert between the goalposts.
The Addicks had their chance to equalise just before the stroke of half time, as Talbert blundered her save inside of the area. A scuffle within range saw Gracie Pearse poach the rebound just yards out from goal, but she fired her strike over the crossbar. Charlton would reap the rewards of their efforts soon after, as Brazil flew past Bühler in a foot race down the right side before picking out Katie Bradley inside of the area with a pin-point cross. The Addicks number 7 would make no mistake in front of goal, as she fired home the equaliser in the 45th minute of play.
Having lost their lead on the stroke of half time, Spurs were eager to regain their lead at The Valley as Anna Csiki had her shot from close range blocked at the death. The resulting corner would be dealt with cleanly by Whitehouse, as she took possession of the ball at it’s highest point.
The visitors catalysed a promising attack, as Ahtinen sent a clever outside-of-the-foot pass through the lines into the path of an advancing Grant. The Australian fullback found herself one-on-one with Whitehouse, but would fire her strike just wide of the left goalpost.
Charlton had the next best chance come the 75th minute, as a blundered pass from Molly Bartrip put Talbert under severe amounts of pressure before the goalkeeper narrowly managed to clear the play away despite an interference from a sliding Princess Ademiluyi.
As the clock ran down into the fixture’s final minutes, it was Drew Spence who opened up the left side, as she located Jess Naz streaming down flank with a visionary through ball. The Spurs number 7 made no mistake, as she fired her strike into the top of the net to claim victory for Tottenham at The Valley.
Despite the victory looking solidified in the final minutes, Charlton nearly took the fixture to penalties as Sophia O’Rourke hit the post in what seemed sure to be a goal. The deflection found Gloria Siber, who was also unable to convert, much to the disappointment of the gasping Addicks faithful.
