Spurs Women 1-1 West Ham Women: honors even after London derby

Tottenham Hotspur Women opened their sophomore season in the WSL at home, playing West Ham Women in a London Derby. Despite two good chances from Kit Graham early and going ahead in the second half due to a West Ham own goal, Spurs conceded shortly afterwards and earned a 1-1 draw with the Hammers.

Grace Fisk headed the ball into her own net, and Adriana Leon scored three minutes later with a superb individual goal to level the score.

Key Moments

5 — Real end to end stuff here in the early minutes. Spurs pushing forward through possession, WHU trying to hit on the counter.

13 — Graham off the bar! Siri Worm floats a cross into the box and Kit Graham gets a header to it, but it pings off the crossbar. Drat.

17 — Graham off the bar again! This time it’s a long-range effort that kisses the woodwork.

34 — Free kick for West Ham from Kenza Dali is whipped in, but Spencer had it well covered, and the shot goes wide of the post.

Halftime — scoreless at the break, though Spurs have had more and better chances. Rachel Daly is on for West Ham, her first appearance in West Ham colors.

53’ — GOAL TOTTENHAM! It’s an own goal after a Spurs corner was flicked into the back of the net by the head of WHU’s Grace Fisk. Still counts! 1-0 Spurs!

54’ — Two subs for Spurs — new signing Rachel Williams and Gemma Davison are on for Lucy Quinn and Angela Addison.

56’ — Goal to West Ham. Adriana Leon levels the score with a very good individual goal. 1-1.

68’ — More subs for Spurs, as Rianna Dean and Ashleigh Neville are off, while Orlando Pride loanee Alanna Kennedy and Lucia Leon both come on.

93’ — Final sub for Spurs — Anna Filbey on for Kit Graham.

FULL TIME — It’s a point apiece for Spurs and West Ham. Final score: 1-1

Key Players

Kit Graham — She didn’t score, but she came awfully close twice in the first half, plonking two off the bar. If either of those go in, Spurs get the three points today.

Angela Addison — She might just be the fastest player on the team, but her darting runs rarely had anyone in support so her attacks tended to fizzle. Still, if she can play this brightly over the course of the season she’s going to be super dangerous.

Reactions

• A disappointing way to open the season, but probably a fair result. If they’re going to push for a top half or better finish, Spurs need to take as many points from the non-insanely good teams as possible. That means this is a missed opportunity for Tottenham, and they’ll be especially disappointed to not score from open play today.
• Spurs’ defense still looked a touch shaky at times in this match, though Kerys Harrop looks like a good signing. Interested to see Zadorsky and what she adds; she didn’t play today. That said, Kerys Harrop and Co. did manage to keep Rachel Daly quiet the entire second half, and that’s good.
• Rianna Dean was practically invisible today. That’s been an issue for her in the WSL, but Spurs will need her to come up big this season.
• Alanna Kennedy looks like a formidable presence at defensive midfielder. By that I mean she’s tall.
• Spurs had numbers and a lot of half-chances in the second half but were let down by either poorly weighted passes, or players not anticipating balls and making runs. Stuff to work on next week in training.
• Shout-out to Rachel Daly’s mom Louise, who gave us a like and a wave on Twitter when Rachel came on for West Ham. We are very pro-moms here at Cartilage Free Captain, no matter who they support.

• Next week is Sunday, a tough match at Everton, who are a very good team and finished just ahead of Spurs last season. Kick-off 8 a.m. ET, 1 p.m. BST.