Sophie Whitehouse was the hero as Charlton beat Leicester City on penalties in a dramatic season finale at The Valley in front of a record Charlton women’s crowd of 3,979.
Sophie Whitehouse saved four of Leicester’s five penalties in the shootout after the match had finished 0-0 after extra time. As a result Charlton were promoted to the WSL at the expense of their opponents. The two sides had met having endured difficult ends to their seasons, Leicester had slumped to defeat in each of their matches since the turn of the year. Charlton had started the year in pole position for automatic promotion to the top flight but stuttered as the season wore on. The Addicks welcomed Birmingham on the final day knowing a draw would have been enough to secure promotion, they lost 2-0.
Charlton were missing key defender Elisha N’Dow through suspension and Kiera Flannery with an ankle complaint. The South London side had not played since that final day loss to Birmingham City three weeks ago. Charlton made four changes from that side, Emma Bissell formerly of Everton came in, as did Mary McAteer, Gillian Kenny and captain Kiera Skeels.
Leicester made one change from the side that narrowly lost 1-0 to Everton on the final day of the WSL season. That change saw Australian Emily van Egmond drop to the bench and Jutta Rantala starting. Leicester’s Alisha Lehmann who was recently named the Foxes Player of the Season was also absent due to injury. A bright spark in Leicester’s end of season run was the form of 19-year-old goalkeeper Katie Keane, who kept her place despite the return of Janina Leitzig to the bench.
The Line ups
CHA: Whitehouse; Fitzgerald, Skeels, Lobato, Mason; Kenny, Bradley; Muya, Bissell, Hutton
LEI: Keane; Mayling, Jansson, Kees, Thibaud, Ale; Tierney, McLoughlin; Rantala Cain, O’Brien
The Action
Under the sweltering South London sun both sides had positive spells of possession in the opening exchanges. Rantala, playing in the hole in behind the front two had the first effort of the match, turning on the edge of the box but directed her effort over. Charlton’s first flash of an opportunity came from a line breaking pass played into the feet of Jodie Hutton from Ellie Mason. Hutton turned and shot but Julie Thibaud blocked the effort magnificently. Charlton had their tails up and Karin Muya beat Asmita Ale to find space in behind, Ale brought her down cynically but perhaps necessarily for her side. The resulting free kick was well cleared by Thibaud again with a flick.
The first save of the match was drawn just as the game passed the 25 minute mark, with Rantala taking aim from outside the box. Sophie Whitehouse, WSL 2 golden glove winner, dealt with the effort comfortably. The Reds were ending the first half stronger, with Muya winning a number of fifty-fifty balls on the right hand side. Muya was continuing to get joy attacking the right side, combining with Jodie Hutton to put a couple of inviting balls into the box but no player in Charlton red was there to meet it.
With just minutes remaining in the first half, Leicester should have had the lead. An inviting Sam Tierney free kick into the box caused issues for the Addicks. The ball dropped in the box to Shannon O’Brien, the Foxes top scorer seemed poised to find the net. Whitehouse, wrong footed somehow was still able to claw O’Brien’s effort away from goal in quite spectacular style. O’Brien’s follow up was cleared off the line and the scores remained deadlocked.
Charlton started the second half on the front foot earning a corner early on. Another excellent delivery from Hutton found the head of Lucia Lobato who nodded just over the bar. That was as close as the home side got in the second period as Rick Passmor looked to the more experienced heads in the group early in the second half. Emily van Egmond, Rachel Williams and Ashleigh Neville were introduced. Charlton responded with a change of their own which saw Danish international Amalie Thestrup enter the fray.
At times Leicester were combining well in the final third but they were still struggling to find an opening. Charlton were struggling to find a way out, looking to find a ball over the top that was rarely on. Leicester’s experience in the top flight was beginning to tell as wave after wave of Foxes attack rained down on the Charlton defence. With just over ten minutes to play of normal time Tierney fired an effort wide before Van Egmond fired a shot wide with just over a minute remaining of normal time. A deep ball to the back post minutes later found the head of Ashleigh Neville but Whitehouse saved well down to her right. Neither side could open the scoring and get the goal they so desperately craved, extra time loomed.
After extra time kicked off Charlton seemed infused with energy. Ellie Mason took a speculative effort that almost produced a spectacular opening goal. From an unlikely angle she connected beautifully with the ball but it bounced wide. Carla Humphrey who returned from maternity leave late this season came off the bench at the end of the 90 minutes and provided a new dimension in attack. Charlton almost opened the scoring with a stunning effort from outside the box. Katie Lockwood’s effort from well outside the box had Keane beaten but rattled the underside of the bar and out. Lobato followed in to header home but the flag was raised for offside.
Leicester showed signs of life with a couple of minutes to play in the first half of extra time. O’Brien’s near post header was well saved again by Whitehouse. As the second half began Sam Tierney played a looping ball to the edge of the box, Heather Payne took it down with one touch and half volleyed with the second, Whitehouse was forced into another brilliant save. Charlton had another excellent chance as the time ticked down, after a looping ball fell to Lockwood in the box she was unable to get her shot away. Tierney had another fierce effort miss the target with minutes to play but despite the transitional nature of the latter stages of the match, penalties seemed inevitable.
Step up Sophie Whitehouse, the Charlton keeper was incredible in the shootout and ensured that her side would play in the WSL next term. Katie Keane saved two penalties for Leicester but it wasn’t enough and after Ellie Mason fired the ball home Mouchon’s penalty was saved by Whitehouse, cue utter pandemonium.
Charlton talking point
Sophie Whitehouse’s heroics in the first half kept the scores level and that was the story of the tie. Charlton dug deep in the second half, no mean feet as Leicester attempted to steal the initiative. The Reds kept a clean sheet and brought it to penalties.
Charlton have so often been there or there abouts, they have been in the top five of the WSL 2 in each of the past five seasons. It took one player who refused to be beaten to ensure they finally have their chance at the big time.
Leicester City talking point
As a head coach you live and die by your decisions in the big moments. Rick Passmor made three changes early in the second half, coming off were a 24 year old, 26 year old and 27 year old. Onto the pitch came a 38 year old, 33 year old and a 32 year old. Those changes helped the Foxes gain control in the match, but not in finding that crucial goal. After Noémie Mouchon came on with just over 10 minutes of extra time to play and looked like a live wire, it was hard to understand why she hadn’t been introduced sooner.
Whichever side won this match they were going to need to add a huge amount of quality if they want to avoid the WSL 2 again in a couple seasons time and Leicester City certainly will need to.
The Halfway Line Player of the Match: Sophie Whitehouse
An astonishing performance. Whitehouse was up for WSL 2 Player of the Season, and this afternoon demonstrated exactly why. Whitehouse made a number of excellent stops including an astounding save at the end of the first half to keep the scores level. Whitehouse save four of Leicester’s five penalties, the best goalkeeping performance I can recall.
