Spurs Women left it late, scoring in the 94th minute to draw 1-1 with Manchester United in the Barclay’s FA Women’s Super League (WSL) at the Hive on Sunday (7 November).
Ria Percival’s deep free-kick in stoppage time rescued us a point after Alessia Russo had given United the lead in the additional period at the end of the first half.
Rehanne Skinner made six changes to the side that beat Charlton in the Continental League Cup before the international break as Percival, Kyah Simon, Rachel Williams, Maeva Clemaron, Ashleigh Neville and Shelina Zadorsky all came into the starting XI.
We made a bright start when Jess Naz cut in sharply from the left and curled an effort towards goal which was punched behind for a corner by Mary Earps. The resulting set-play was met by Williams at the back post, who again tested the goalkeeper, but United stood firm and cleared their lines.
Following two lengthy stoppages due to knocks sustained by Kit Graham and So-hyun Cho, the first half was a scrappy affair with neither side able to create any clear-cut chances until the latter stages. Tinja-Riikka Korpela was forced into making a swift double save as she kept out efforts from Russo and then Leah Galton, while Naz tried her luck again for us, but fired narrowly over the crossbar after Simon did well to find her on the edge of the area.
But United took the lead in the first of five additional minutes at the end of the first half. Russo held off challenges as she advanced towards goal, before firing a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
We came out in the second half batting hard. Simon was unable to hit the target from 25 yards and Graham too had a go from long range, this time forcing Earps into a good save as she tipped the ball over the bar. Then, as Naz was set free down the right, her cross nearly ended up in the goal but landed on the roof of the net, much to the delight of keeper Earps who was scrambling to keep the ball out.
The clock continued to tick down but, as it looked like time was running out for us, Percival lined up a free-kick in the fourth minute of injury time, five yards into the United half on the left side. Her delivery bounced in the area, managed to evade everyone and went into the top corner to level the scores, sparking jubilant scenes at the Hive.
The visitors, though, almost stole the points from the restart. Galton broke free down the left, lofted a ball to Russo who headed into the ground, but Korpela was equal to the effort as she palmed it away from the goal before we cleared our lines. The point sees us move up to third in the league table with our next game in the WSL against Arsenal on Saturday (13 November) at the Hive.
