We climbed up to third in the Barclays Women's Super League on Sunday thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton on Sunday afternoon.
Claiming our fourth win from our opening five games as Martin Ho's impressive start as Head Coach continues, Cathinka Tandberg was once again on the scoresheet, netting her third goal in four games, as her equally as fine start to life in England's top flight continues.
An arrival from Hammarby IF in the summer, 'Tinka, who was nominated for the WSL's Player of the Month award for September on Friday, slotted home on 26 minutes to finish off an excellent team move at Brisbane Road.
And that goal proved to be the match winner as another resolute and disciplined defensive performance saw us claim our third clean sheet in five games - bettering our tally of two in the 2024/25 campaign.
Despite an early scare inside the opening two minutes, Toko Koga recovering well to deny Jelena Cankovic after an unfortunate slip inside the box by our Japan international, we were on the front foot in the opening stages of the contest – a regular theme in Martin Ho’s early days of his tenure. Jess Naz was a constant threat down the right as she sent a curling left-footed effort at Chiamaka Nnadozie while Tandberg was denied by Caitlin Hayes after connecting with Bethany England’s cross from the right but, on 26 minutes, the Norway international was on hand to cap off a lovely move.
With Olivia Holdt sliding the ball to Jess Naz on the left, our number seven sent a inch-perfect low cross to the back post and Tandberg was there to calmly slot away for her third goal in the WSL in five games. And we continued with our tempo after the opener, Tandberg providing a nuisance across the Seagulls’ backline while Naz and Holdt always eager to get on the ball and advance down each flank. The away side carved out their first real opportunity of the game on the stroke of half time following a scramble inside our box from a corner, but Rachel McLauchlan’s flick from close range was straight into the hands of Kop.
We picked up where we left off after the restart as Eveliina Summanen’s fierce free-kick, from around 30 yards out, was pushed away by the diving Nnadozie and shortly after, Bethany England was denied at the front post by the Seagulls’ shot stopper. Brighton started to gain momentum as we progressed in the second period as Nadine Noordam saw her effort from the edge of the box blocked by Clare Hunt before Rosa Kafaji curled over the bar.
Koga was impressive once again in our backline and produced another fantastic block on 75 minutes to deny Kafaji after the Arsenal loanee advanced into the box following a swift counterattack by the away side. Despite the pressure from Brighton at our end, we arguably carved out the best opportunity of the second half with just 10 minutes left of proceedings when substitute Matilda Vinberg’s free-kick fell nicely to Koga just outside out the six-yard box, but her poked effort was saved low to her right by by Nnadonzie. We remained resilient at the back in the final minutes of the contest to earn our fourth victory of the WSL campaign – and our fourth clean sheet in six games across all competitions.
In term of team news, Ashleigh Neville made her first start of the season as she replaced Josefine Rybrink in the starting XI, while captain England made her 50th appearance for us in the WSL.
