A narrow 1-0 defeat over Barclay’s Women Super League (WSL) rivals Aston Villa in the second round of the Women’s League Cup on Sunday saw Tottenham Hotspur go top of Group E, three points clear of the Villans with a game left to play.
An unbelievable 40-yard screamer by Eveliina Summanen separated the sides, and the media spoke to the Finnish midfielder following the full-time whistle.
Summanen calls her long-range strike ‘one to remember’
Asked what was going through her head when she made the decision to strike from 40 yards out, Summanen admitted “To be fair nothing was going through my head, I just gave it a go and it went in, I was as surprised as everyone else.”
Probed regarding whether it was the best goal of her career thus far, Summanen acknowledged “It’s not everyday that you score goals like that, even at training, it’s probably one to remember.”
The potential goal of the season nomination from Summanen earned her the plaudits of Player of the Match, but asked who her choice for player of the match was, she chose debutant goalkeeper Eleanor Heeps without any hesitation, saying “A clean sheet on her debut, it’s not easy to come in, and Villa are not a bad team, they had their chances. Just as cool as she was, you couldn’t tell it was her first game, so definitely Eleanor.”
Victory over Aston Villa provides ‘ massive boost’ for Spurs
Tottenham have not had the best start to their campaign, with yesterday’s victory being just their third win across all competitions. Summanen made note of this in her post-match analysis, stating “I think it’s most important that we got the win today, and the clean sheet, that’s such a massive boost for us after the last couple of weeks.”
Asked how much her side value this competition in comparison with the WSL and the FA Cup, Summanen expressed “We just prepare every single game as best as we can and just try to get a result out of these games. We knew today coming into this game that we have been conceding goals, so the main goal was not to let them score goals, so I think we can be proud of ourselves today.”
It was the first time Summanen found herself alongside Anna Csiki in midfield this season. Summanen was full of praise for the Hungarian, citing “I think she is a great player, very confident with the ball, so I tried to get her in the game as much as I could.”
Summanen went on to praise Robert Vilahamn’s side as a whole, stating “It was a good game from everyone today, as a collective, with our communication and all of that. So maybe she found it a little bit easier to come in today because of how we played together.”
