Palace 0-2 Spurs (WLC) | Robert’s verdict: “A lot of the players showing their best quality” | OneFootball

Robert Vilhaman felt it was a ‘mature, professional’ performance as we secured a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Women’s League Cup on Wednesday evening and booked our place in the quarter-final of the competition.

After a goalless first half at VB Community Stadium, we made a quick impact after the break as Matilda Vinberg netted her first goal of the season, converting from close range after some excellent build-up play from Lenna Gunning-Williams and Martha Thomas, to break the deadlock in south London on 50 minutes.

We doubled our advantage in excellent fashion as Araya Dennis, who stepped off the bench on the hour mark, curled home a fantastic effort on the turn to score her first goal of the Club on just her second appearance in our colours.

Academy player Zara Bailey, who has featured regularly for the Under-21s this season, was also handed her senior debut as she came off the bench in the closing stages of the Women’s League Cup tie to cap off a memorable evening.

Here’s what Robert had to say in the post-match interview with SPURSPLAY…

What were your thoughts on the game?

Robert: “A very mature, professional game, we knew when we started the game that we were in a strong position for the quarter-final, so if we had a controlled game, then we could reach that. We played some good football, didn’t give them many chances and the two goals are quite beautiful, a lot of the players showing their best quality.”

Was it important to get that goal early in the second half?

Robert: “Once you get that goal, then you know you can play out a little more and they have to score two goals before we risk of not going to the quarter-final. We played some good football in the build-up, created some very good chances and the second goal by Araya, I’m so happy for her that she can score that goal.”

That was an excellent finish from Araya and shows the confidence she can have in front of goal?

Robert: “She has worked so hard this season, we haven’t given her too many minutes but she has worked hard in training and was great in the first Women’s League Cup game as well, today she took her chance and showed me that she wants to play more, showed this team that she can bring more to the table. She’s so powerful… that finish was one of the highlights of the game.”

How much of a confidence boost will it be for Matilda Vinberg to get her first goal of the season?

Robert: “It starts from Lenna [Gunning-Williams] switching the play there, Martha [Thomas] could probably score on her own, but she gives it to Matilda and she gets her first goal of the season. That’s great for her because she’s working hard and she needed that for her self-confidence, after that goal she was shining and creating chances, it was a good boost for her.”

How special of a moment was it for Zara Bailey?

Robert: “She came up to train with us during the international break and I thought ‘wow, this is a really good left-back’ who has come from the academy. We want to bring forward these players and it was the perfect scenario with Amanda [Nilden] a little sick, so we can bring her into the squad and the game was so good that we can actually give her the minutes, she was excellent for those few minutes."

Plenty of positives to take from this performance into Saturday’s game against Brighton?

Robert: “We have had a good few weeks now where we feel like we’re getting back in shape, pressing good, playing some good football, scoring beautiful goals and using the whole squad, but Saturday will be a tough game. Brighton have had a good season so far but we’re going to go there to have a last victory before the Christmas break.”

Watch Robert's post-match interview here