Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 Everton FC on 8 December 2024

Bethany England scored in each half as we returned to winning ways in the Barclays Women’s Super League with a 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday.

After a positive start to the game at Brisbane Road, our captain was on hand to capitalise as she fired home from close range to break the deadlock and, although Sara Holmgaard cancelled out her opener with a fantastic finish in the latter stages of the half, England showcased her leadership qualities just minutes after the restart, stepping up from the penalty spot to reinstate our lead.

The brace from our number nine now moves her within four goals of becoming the WSL’s all-time leading goalscorer – with Vivianne Miedema currently on 81 goals – and, more importantly, secures our first win in the league after suffering back-to-back losses to Manchester City and Arsenal.

Robert Vilahamn made two changes to the starting XI that faced Aston Villa in the Women’s League Cup last time out, with Clare Hunt replacing Amy James-Turner at the back and Drew Spence coming into the midfield for Anna Csiki.

Having impressed on her competitive debut for the Club last time out, Eleanor Heeps retained her place in goal, with Becky Spencer missing due to illness, for her first start in the WSL and the young goalkeeper was called into action early on, getting down to her left to push Melissa Lawley’s effort from distance around the post.

England had two good opportunities in the space of two minutes, failing to direct two headers on target following good deliveries from Eveliina Summanen and Molly Bartrip but, as we approached the midway point of the first half, our captain was on hand to fire us ahead against the Merseyside club.

Jess Naz’s cross from the left is met by Hunt at the back-post and, although Courtney Brosnan produced a fantastic save to deny the defender, England raced onto the rebound to fire home from close-range. Hayley Raso looked to double our advantage shortly after but, once again, Brosnan was in fine form to deny the Australia international.

However, as we entered the closing stages of the first half, the visitors grabbed the equaliser, arguably against the run of play, as a fantastic strike from Holmgaard on the edge of the box nestled into the top right hand corner. Despite seeing our one-goal advantage disappear, it didn’t dampen our spirit as, just two minutes after the restart, we were awarded a penalty after Martha Thomas was impeded inside the box and England stepped up to calmly convert into the top right corner.

Lucy Hope failed to capitalise on a dangerous free-kick situation, sending her effort from the edge of the box over the bar, while Katja Snoeijs was denied on the goal-line by Amanda Nilden as Everton pushed for an equaliser, but we remained defensively resilient to maintain our one-goal advantage.

With the game deep into injury-time in the capital, Brosnan produced a fine save with her feet to prevent substitute Lenna Gunning-Williams from netting her first WSL goal, as we held on to claim just our second ever win over Everton – the previous victory back December, 2021 – and an important three points, leapfrogging Liverpool to sixth in the table.