Crossing the Bridge

Tottenham Hotspur's double derby day had mixed results, including the officiating.

Spurs Women nearly pulled off a repeat of last year's home draw against Arsenal, this time at the main stadium, but a controversial handball penalty call basically handed (no pun intended) all three points to the opposition.

Spurs Men rescued the day with a shocking clean-sheet win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge—aided perhaps in small part by Cole Palmer's red card, but definitely by building on the attacking chemistry in last week's multi-goal win against Coventry City.

In this issue: Arsenal recap | Chelsea recap | News from around the Lane

You lose some, you win some, but both results have been slightly overshadowed for me by the devastating injury news confirmation for Alice Sombath. More on what her ACL tear absence means for Spurs Women's season below.

But despite the injury news putting a damper on what was overall a fairly positive pair of performances, there's reason to be optimistic about both teams' chances to put together a solid run of form over the next few weeks.

WSL MD 7 | Tottenham 1 - 2 Arsenal

Tandberg 13' | Stanway 17', Russo (Pen) 56'

The first-half scoreline of 1-1 better reflects how this game actually played out. We had that brief moment of elation when fully COYS Tinka Tandberg scored in her first NLD at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, then had to come back down to earth when Georgia Stanway equalized for Arsenal just four minutes later.

Overall, the performance was a big improvement on the previous two games, especially defensively. But the levels dropped off slightly in the second half and we did not look particularly likely to score. A draw would have felt like a fair result.

Alas, the WSL's lack of VAR strikes again. Head official Phoebe Cross called for a handball on Ella Morris despite the ball having been struck at her from close distance and by her own teammate, Tandberg, with no advantage gained. Captain Drew Spence seemingly attempted to remind her of the rule to have the call overturned, but with no VAR available to formally review the decision, it had to stand. Alessia Russo converted from the spot to put Arsenal in the lead.

Frustrating as it was to feel like the game was decided on a faulty refereeing decision, we can still be heartened by the improved performance. Arsenal is one of the top 4 teams that we do appear to have almost closed the gap on, though the jury is out on whether that says more about us or more about them at this juncture.

I still have some qualms about Martin Ho's game management in these big fixtures. Besides the enforced substitution of Ella Morris for the injured Alice Sombath just after halftime, he was too slow to make further changes, not to mention leaving Olivia Holdt out of the starting lineup.

It was also disappointing that because of the game state, we didn't get an opportunity to see Jess Naz make her season debut off the bench. Hopefully that will come in today's Players Cup match.

Notable & quotable:

• Tinka Tandberg's goal was assisted by former Arsenal player Victoria Pelova off a corner kick.

• Alice Sombath made her first WSL start for Spurs before suffering an ACL tear in the second half.

• Drew Spence is now level with Millie Bright for most all-time WSL appearances at 216; 79 of those appearances have been with Spurs.

• Martin Ho was firm in delivering his opinion that the penalty decision wasn't good enough:

I think the refereeing has got worse than it was last year. My interpretation of the rule is, if your teammate hits it and your teammate is one yard away, time and distance is taken into account and it’s not a penalty. That's what we were told at the start of the season in the referee's meeting. I asked the question, 'How is it [a penalty] from that distance?' They couldn't give me an answer on the pitch.

He also noted that fourth official Lisa Benn is a much more experienced referee and would have been a better choice for center official in a game of this magnitude. Perhaps Spurs are not yet deemed important enough to get the best referees appointed to our games. The WSL is clearly not that bothered about a controversial decision happening in one of our matches, or in any match for that matter, since they have delayed full-time status for referees and the introduction of VAR time and time again.

• Ho was more positive on the team performance, however:

For large parts, we were competitive, much better in terms of how we competed physically and defensively, how organised we were and the adaptation from the players to go from being front-footed to being a bit more reserved was good.

• Attendance for the NLD at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was recorded in the official match report as 13,719.

The good news is that figure is higher than any attendance number at THS last season (9,356 vs Chelsea was the max), but the bad news is that it was less than half the attendance figure from the last time we hosted Arsenal at the main stadium (28,852).

With so much negative chatter around the family-friendly marketing of the game, the mixing of Arsenal fans in the home sections, and other issues, the club clearly needs to rethink its strategy for the THS games.

Alice Sombath's injury implications

We have to talk about what Alice Sombath's injury means for the team going forward this season. Although she had a slow introduction to the squad due to fitness concerns from the pre-season, she was starting to get more game time in the last few weeks and had even started a couple of cup games prior to her first WSL start against Arsenal. So it's doubly frustrating for her to still have ended up with an ACL tear despite the team's cautious approach to her load management. Sometimes football is just cruel.

Since we won't be seeing our record signing playing again until next season, Martin Ho and his staff are going to have to find some solutions in the meantime.

Interestingly, we had seen her play at centerback in both Players Cup games, but at right fullback in her first WSL start. We have ample depth at fullback with Ella Morris and Hanna Wijk, as well as Caitlin Dijkstra—who had also been used as a bit of a utility defensive player so far. But Dijkstra will likely be needed more at centerback now, especially since the recent run of top 4 opponents showed the limitations of playing Amanda Nildén in central defense. There is also the knock-on effect of Julie Blakstad having less availability to push up into a right winger position as we sometimes saw last season. I would also argue that the need to bring in an established defensive midfielder prospect is more important than ever.

The other unfortunate aspect of this season-ending injury is that it adds new stakes to the January transfer window. With a lack of timetable for Clare Hunt to return to play, the team will likely need to recruit another defender this winter when we surely would have preferred to add a high-quality forward as the priority signing.

But even beyond the upcoming window, it feels like the club's overall strategy to build around Sombath as our marquee summer signing (well, that's how the club viewed it—my feelings on what constitutes a true marquee signing are well known) has now been scuppered. They will have to adjust quickly if we don't want to be left behind by the other ambitious challengers in the league, to say nothing of London City Lionesses who are already looking fairly established after their strong summer transfer business. It's sad to think about, but we don't know how well or how quickly Sombath will be able to come back next summer, and therefore can't be relied upon to play a significant part, at least for the first half of the 2027/28 campaign.

PL MD 8 | Chelsea 0 - 2 Tottenham

Pender (OG) 77', Tel 87'

Look, the only conclusion I can come to about this game is that the obvious curse that had been affecting us for decades at this ground has somehow been miraculously reversed. There's no other explanation for Chelsea making the kinds of unlucky mistakes and hotheaded disciplinary goofs that Spurs usually make in this fixture. How refreshing to be on the other side of the line this time!

A lot of the action was reserved for the second half, though, so it was still a fairly nervy first half. But at least it was competitive, which I had assumed would be all we could realistically ask for from this Spurs Men performance.

And honestly, it looked like the bad luck was going to strike again when James Maddison was forced off in the 51st minute with an apparent injury. We won't get an official update on him until Friday, but the word after the game was that it wasn't perhaps as worrisome an injury as feared. Still, any amount of further game time missed by Maddison would be a blow to this team's slow-growing confidence.

Maddison's substitute, Conor Gallagher, added a bit of mettle to the proceedings as he faced his former team, and we got the boost of Pedro Porro's return just over ten minutes later. I personally felt a bit nervous about him coming back in this fixture with its history of gutting injuries, but he appeared to make it out unscathed.

That was despite the game getting noticeably more chippy in the second half. The yellow cards were flying for both sides and culminated in a second yellow sending-off for Cole Palmer. He arguably should have been sent off earlier with a straight red for an unnecessary show of physicality off the ball (similar to the Luke Shaw incident in the Manchester United game), but at least the referee arrived at the correct outcome eventually.

Just a few minutes before Palmer's red, Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders scored an own goal to put Spurs in the lead. And less than ten minutes after the home team went down to 10 players, we cemented the win with an absolutely superb solo effort from Mathys Tel. He handled several defenders to arrive in the box, but it wasn't an easy shot at that point. He had very slim margins to send his strike just inside the post to beat Penders, and he did it.

I don't want to overanalyze this one, to be honest. I'm just happy we finally got a win at this usually unhappy hunting ground. And the three points put Spurs as high as 12th place in the table before finally dropping down to 14th by the end of the matchweek. Not bad considering we were dwelling in the relegation zone for most of the early season.

Notable & quotable:

• Mathys Tel scored his first Premier League goal of the season.

Commenting on his performance, he said:

I’ve worked a lot on areas I had to work on. Today, it’s a step forward. As a team, it’s a step forward, but also for myself. I'm very happy about my performance today. I think that I can still do better. I can always do better. I need to work, work, work, work and keep going.

• For the second week running, we had a player nominated for PL Player of the Matchweek, this time Mateus Fernandes, but he lost out to Liverpool's Ronald Araújo.

• Fernandes did win the official Player of the Match award, though.

• This 0-2 result was the team's first clean sheet at Stamford Bridge since 1986.

• It was the first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018, and only the second of the Premier League era.

News from around the Lane

• In Spurs alumni news, a player who left the club to win trophies won a trophy. Jokes aside, congratulations to Harry Kane for his Ballon d'Or win and Gerd Müller Trophy.

• Players from the original Broxbourne Ladies team through to the 2019 promotion-winning team were awarded their legacy certificates at the NLD.

• On Spurs Men's Academy loan watch:

• Jamie Donley scored a brace for Luton Town in their 3-1 win over Doncaster Rovers
• Damola Ajayi scored a wonderful goal for Barnet against York City—well, technically it went down as an own goal, but his run through the box was integral

• And in outgoing loan news from Spurs Women's Academy, Rania Oukriss is joining Portsmouth on a dual-registration loan until the end of December.

• Farren Doran has signed his first professional contract with the club.

Up next:

October 28 | Spurs Women @ Bristol City (Subway Players Cup)
Team news — Alice Sombath officially out with an ACL injury; Olga Ahtinen is still out with a knock

Although Bristol City are in the WSL2, there are a few familiar faces from WSL seasons past, including Spurs' own former player Esther Morgan. They lost their previous Players Cup outing against Charlton, but are on a four-game unbeaten streak in league play and currently sit 4th in the WSL2 table. Most notably, they scored four goals in their last match against Wolves, so this could be another good test for our defense.

Just who that defense is going to consist of is the big question, but I do expect there to be some rotation for this midweek game. In particular, Hanna Wijk could surely use some minutes now that she's likely going to be returning to the matchday squad in Alice Sombath's absence. Behind the back line, Selma Panengstuen will likely get another start in goal. And I would like to see Shekiera Martinez given a start at striker to build up her confidence.

I actually took so long to write this issue that the official lineup is already out, and I was three for three on those rotation predictions! One thing I do want to note is that we haven't seen youngster Jhanaie Pierre in the matchday squad since very early in the season. It's a shame she isn't able to get some game time in the cup at least, but I do understand that Martin Ho is under some pressure to a) get a result and make the rest of the league phase more comfortable and b) do some lineup experimentation in a game where it's safer to do so but with an eye to upcoming WSL games.

Streaming note: the game will be available on SpursPlay at this link

I'll be back on Friday to preview the weekend matches and assess Spurs Women's Players Cup campaign progress at the midway point of the league phase.

COYS

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