FA Cup: Tottenham reach first semi-final after penalty shootout | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur have made history by booking their place in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final for the first time. Spurs stunned three-time winners Manchester City after Bethany England scored a stoppage time equaliser to force the match to a penalty shootout.

Becky Spencer stood strong in the net to deny both Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly’s efforts. With England, Amanda Nildén, Wang Shuang and Amy James-Turner all covering, Tottenham punched their ticket into the final four.

Just days after their Continental Cup exit, Man City have reached the end of their run in another competition. Focus now shifts completely to their Women’s Super League title battle.

Starting XIs

Tottenham

Spencer; Turner, Nilden, Naz, Clinton, Ildhusoy, Thomas, Ahtinen, Buhler, Summanen, Neville

Manchester City

Keating; Aleixandri, Greenwood, Fowler, Hemp, Angeldahl, Ouahabi, Park, Casparij, Shaw, Hasegawa

How it went

Man City looked like they were headed for a comfortable day out when Mary Fowler scored the opener with just six minutes on the clock. The No.8 fired the ball home from outside the area following a well-worked piece of team play. The remainder of the first half played out with chances for both sides, however neither were able to add to the scoreline.

The second half provided relatively little action. While City dominated large spells of the tie, Tottenham’s defensive work prevented Gareth Taylor’s side from extending their lead.

However, a late goal at the death from England forced the game into extra time as the Spurs forward slotted the ball home in the sixth minute of injury time. The Lioness capitalised on a failed clearance from Khiara Keating to get her side back into the tie.

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A relatively quiet period of extra time followed with neither side able to find a crucial lead. Ultimately, the clash would be settled by a penalty shootout with the score still level after 120 minutes.

After two missed penalties, and despite Keating also saving one of her own, City bow out of the competition. Tottenham will join Manchester United, Leicester City and current champions Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.

For the Sky Blues, the quarter-final exit marks their second cup defeat in just three days. With their dreams of a domestic treble over, Taylor’s side will look for a strong end to their WSL campaign in their bid to secure silverware.

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