Bristol City 1-2 Tottenham: Kit Graham fires Spurs Women to win

Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield may have gotten all the attention, but the other top flight Spurs side also played today, and played well. Spurs Women were at the Stoke Gifford Stadium in southwest England to take on Bristol City Women. Spurs went down to a rebounded strike from Abi Harrison, but striker Kit Graham put the team on her back, scoring her first two goals in a Spurs shirt in just two minutes as Spurs came from behind to win 2-1.

Now a few matches into the season, managers Karen Hills and Juan Amoros have pretty much discovered Spurs’ starting XI now, with Graham, Lucy Quinn, and Rianna Dean up top, and Rachel Furness in the #10 role behind them. The only surprise was the exclusion of fullback Ashleigh Neville, who started on the bench with Anna Filbey her replacement.

On a sunny day in Bristol, the match was pretty open from the first kick. Tottenham spent much of the first half probing the Vixens’ defensive line and pushing forward for an opening goal. However, it was Bristol, who entered the contest on a seven match winless streak in the WSL going back to last season, who opened the scoring. Bursting forward, Charlie Wellings fired a cross into the box that bounced out to Olivia Chance. The New Zealand international had her shot blocked, but the ball fell to the feet of Abi Harrison who fired past Becky Spencer to give the Vixens the lead, which they took into halftime.

Spurs came out firing in the second half, and it was all due to the play of Kit Graham. The new Spurs striker signing scored two goals in two minutes to give Tottenham the lead for good in the second half.

The first came in the 62nd minute after she fired a thunderous shot into the top right corner past Bristol keeper Sophie Baggaley, a fantastic strike that could be a contender for October’s WSL Goal of the Month.

Two minutes later, Graham did it again from virtually the same spot. This time she intercepted the ball at the halfway line, dribbled to the top of the box and looped one gracefully past Baggaley to put Tottenham in the lead.

Amazingly, Graham wasn’t done — in the 67th minute she was taken down in the Bristol box earning Spurs a penalty and a chance to score a third. However, Rachel Furness’ penalty kick was saved by Baggaley.

Tottenham never really looked like conceding after that, though Bristol had a couple of decent chances to score towards the end of the half. The final whistle blew, and Spurs have their third WSL win in five matches.

After the match, manager Hills credited her team’s confidence as key to the second half turnaround.

The win puts Spurs into a tie for fourth place with nine points, and just three points out of second. Bristol falls to tenth and remains winless on the season.

The full match can be streamed for free on demand via the FA Player.

Spurs return to Continental Cup action next Sunday with an away trip to second division Crystal Palace, but all eyes will be on their next league match, a North London Derby against juggernauts Arsenal on November 17 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Circle that one on your calendars.