It was delight in North London for Everton as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, taking all three points from a closely contested game.
Both sides came into this game with weakened squads due to players competing in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Tottenham missed centre-back duo Clare Hunt and Toko Koga while they are away with their national sides. Still, Martin Ho gave promising youngster Lena Gunning-Williams her first Women’s Super League start as a reward for her campaign so far.
Everton, on the other hand are still missing Clare Wheeler after Australia’s late-heroics against South Korea ensured they’d progress through the group stages, along with Japanese trio Rion Ishikawa, Hanoka Hayashi, and Hikaru Kitagawa.
The Lineups
TOT: Kop; Wijk, Rybrink, Bartrip, Blakstad; Gunning-Williams, Summanen, Gaupset, Vinberg; Holdt, Tandberg
EVE: Brosnan; Blundell, Mace, Fernandez, Pacheco; Payne, van Gool, Galli, Vignola; Kramzar, Momiki
The Action
It was almost a nightmare start for the hosts as Toni Payne capitalised on a sleeping Tottenham within the first minute, and she would’ve put Everton one up if not for some brave, decisive keeping from the ever-reliable Lize Kop, saving her teammates’ blushes.
It was by no means one-way traffic in the early stages of the contest, but it was still the Toffees who drew first blood, and they did so by showing off the beautiful football they can play. A pass from deep freed Zara Kramzar to attack the box and combine with her forward partner Nicole Momiki, who found the bottom corner with precision, continuing her impressive form in 2026.
Tottenham heads didn’t drop after their poor start, keeping up their high-energy out of possession, with Signe Gaupset in particular having a strong first half, pressing from the front and being a creative spark in the middle. Her and Olivia Holdt were causing the visitor problems all half and showed why Martin Ho’s side have been so entertaining this season.
Despite this, it was Toni Payne who grabbed the first 45 by the scruff of the neck. In the 27th minute, she looked to create something as she broke free on the right wing with her pace and directness. It was too much for Julie Blackstad, but her tempting ball across the six-yard box wasn’t met by a blue shirt.
The Everton lead should’ve been doubled twice late in the first half when Ornella Vignola spots another Payne run in behind and plays an excellent drilled ball to break the Tottenham backline and leave Payne free in the area, but her attempted lob went just wide.
Vignola and Payne linked up again minutes later while the Spurs defence couldn’t track Payne’s mazy runs, but the Nigerian international again couldn’t find the net.
Some typically mesmerising quick feet in the box from Holdt to get past three defenders got the home crowd on their feet, but Tottenham still lacked some end product as they went into half-time 1-0 down.
A muted start to the second half would’ve been a relief for Everton interim boss Scott Phelan after such a frantic game up to that point, as his side looked to control their lead while Spurs brought on the trio of Drew Spence, Bethany England, and Olga Ahtinen to try to make a difference.
Another great move from Vignola ended with a deflected cross that again should’ve been put away by Payne, which was then soon followed by Holdt again taking multiple Everton players out the game with a snappy turn but her ball through wasn’t met by any forward. While the end product was lacking, the technical brilliance on display was clear for both sides.
While multiple players showed this quality, it was the January signing Signe Gaupset who finally earned Tottenham the equaliser. Surrounded by three Everton players, she remained composed, took a small touch for space, and expertly placed it past an irate Courtney Brosnan.
It felt like a just equaliser as Spurs had been huffing and puffing trying to break the deadlock all half, with the triple substitution working out for Ho, however, it wasn’t the most impactful change of the afternoon.
Phelan decided to change both his forwards, taking off Payne and Kramzar for Kelly Gago and Imma Gabarro; an inspired move when the two subs secured the three points for Everton. Both used their fresh legs to bypass the Spurs backline, with a quick squared ball from Gagarro left an open goal for the French international to silence the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
It looked as though there could still be more goals in the game when waves of Tottenham attacks were well dealt with by a determined defence that was expertly marshalled by the young Ruby Mace, who barely put a foot wrong all game. Gago also could’ve had a second if not for a world-class save from close by Kop.
Despite the chaotic final twenty minutes, Everton managed to hold on for a huge win for the team from Merseyside. This makes it four wins in four in the WSL, and they have really steadied the ship after a tumultuous season that saw former boss Brian Sorensen sacked.
For Tottenham, it leaves them in fifth place and likely ends their hope of securing Champions League football this season. While they showed their individual quality throughout the 90 minutes, they struggled in the final third and will be disappointed to have lost this, with difficult games against Manchester City and Arsenal coming up.
