Spurs break losing streak: Five things we learned from Tottenham 2-1 West Ham | OneFootball

A late West Ham own goal gifted Tottenham a first win in three WSL matches after an end-to-end affair at Brisbane Road.

After a frenetic opening half hour of near constant Tottenham attack and the odd West Ham counter, it would be the Hammers who would open the scoring as Riko Ueki, standing just 5’4, headed the visitors in front from Vivianna Asseyi’s corner.

Tottenham would go level through Bethany England shortly after half time following a goalmouth scramble. Spurs saw one shot saved and another hit the post before a fortunate deflection found England, who tapped in from within the six-yard box to equalise.

The draw looked certain before a mishit clearance from West Ham’s Camila Saez found her own net, gifting Spurs the lead and the win in the 92nd minute.

Here’s five things we learned from the game…

Vilahamn’s gamble has an effect, but is it a positive one?

Tottenham came into this match on particularly poor form, winless in four league matches, prompting the manager to shake things up, shifting to a 4-2-4 formation in possession. Bethany England shifted to the right wing, while Jessica Naz and Martha Thomas stepped up as dual strikers, with Matilda Vinberg on the left.

A very attack minded position yielded a wealth of chances, but it would again be a lack of clinical edge letting Tottenham down. Last time out, Tottenham faced Chelsea and had to make do with what few chances they had. Coming into a match as the favourite, though, they still struggled to grab the match by the horns. To go goalless in the opening half an hour despite adding so many forwards into the mix exemplifies that struggle.

Bethany England sends a message to Sarina Wiegman

The October international break has just come to an end, and once again Bethany England was not invited to the camp at St Georges Park.

That is not without reason – her goalscoring form has dropped off considerably in recent seasons – but today she took a step back towards international recognition. She was everywhere for Tottenham at Brisbane Road, creating and finishing chances as she bounced back from hard losses to the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United. Scoring her second WSL goal of the season, a true ‘right place right time’ finish, she will look to carry on the run of good form.

With another international break looming in late November, more goals will be needed if she is to make the team-sheet for friendlies against the United States and Switzerland. Today, though, was a step in the right direction. Having not made a Lionesses appearance since a brief cameo in the World Cup final, England is doing everything in her power to fight back into the team.

Hammers put down relegation rumours

Since the season’s start, West Ham have been tipped to scrap it out in the relegation battle, but today they again showed their disdain for the bottom of the table. While Tottenham find themselves stuck in the no man’s land between title contenders and relegation fodder, for West Ham to take the fight to Spurs in the way that they did was a huge statement of intent.

While they could not quite get the result over the line, to fight Tottenham into injury time before conceding a winner tells you all you need to know about this team. The fact of the matter is the Hammers will more than likely face a relegation battle this season, but today showed they will face that fight with gloves off.

Embarrassing errors will be West Ham’s downfall

If anything will sink the Hammers this year, it may well be themselves. There was plenty of positives to take away from the match, such as Pavi’s incredible dribbling and Ueki’s brilliant headed finish, but this was all underscored by several embarrassing moments. On multiple occasions, two West Ham players attempted to tackle the same player, but missed and took one another off the ball. There were plenty of miscues at set pieces, poorly hit crosses, and unnecessary bookings. Stuff like that will not help in the quest for relegation safety. In a game of fine margins, these wrinkles can be a teams undoing.

Ashleigh Neville’s first half headloss symptomatic of Spurs’ shortcomings

One of the more experienced and consistent members of this Tottenham squad, Neville is tasked by Vilahamn with marshalling the defence, offering a physical presence in defence and key to kickstarting the attack.She was having quite a strong match against West Ham, that is until she needlessly clattered Manuela Pavi and went into the book.

Errors began to creep into her game – missed tackles, wayward passes – and simultaneously Tottenham faded, growing visibly frustrated as the match drew on. In the second half, however she flipped the narrative again, settling back into her role and coming close to teeing up a second for the hosts. She led from the back, inspiring Spurs’ never-say-die defending and keeping the attack ticking over in the dying moments.