Doubled Down

Spurs Men's hot streak against Manchester United finally came to an end over the weekend, while Spurs Women failed to get a first-ever result against Chelsea.

Another disappointment from the latter match was the sub-10K attendance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It's been strange to see the team's home support fail to grow despite the greatly improved performances this season.

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

The quick turnaround for the Men's midweek game kind of took me by surprise, so I'm going to keep these match recaps brief in the interest of time.

Speaking of today's game, Newcastle United are one of the few teams in the Premier League going through an even worse run of form than Spurs. They had to settle for a playoff berth in the Champions League and were knocked out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage with losses to Manchester City in both legs of the tie. They only have one win in their last nine games in all competitions, which was a decisive 3-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven in the CL. Of course, form never seems to matter in this fixture, but it's worth noting that we haven't beaten them in any competition since 2023.

PL MD 25 | Manchester United 2 - 0 Tottenham

Mbeumo 38', Fernandes 81'

There's no getting around talking about Cristian Romero's red card. It cast a shadow over the whole game—and the post-game, for that matter.

Since Manchester United are a team whose number we've had for quite some time, this was one of the few realistic chances for us to pick up points over the next few matchdays of the Premier League schedule. And indeed, neither team seemed to have a distinct edge in the opening stages of the game. The red card put us at a decided disadvantage, particularly because Thomas Frank chose to sacrifice Wilson Odobert (one of our best players in recent weeks) to bring in a replacement centerback.

I recommend listening to Hometown Glory podcast's last episode because they brought up a good point about how difficult it is to judge Romero's red card without considering it alongside his recent social media comments, as well as the ongoing injury crisis. Football is always a game of context; a loss is never just a loss, and a red card is never just a red card. We could probably accept it as an honest mistake from Romero if he hadn't made an already dire situation even worse, not least because he bears extra responsibility as the team captain.

Speaking of the injury crisis, it's not letting up any time soon. Another medium-term injury has been added to the mix, as Destiny Udogie exited the game early with a hamstring injury that will keep him out for several weeks.

On a positive note, new fullback signing Souza made his club debut, and it wasn't the complete debacle we were kind of expecting after all the tempered expectations around his age and lack of experience in English football. I thought he put in a very decent shift in tough circumstances and was always looking to get forward. He's likely to get more gametime in his first half-season with the team than initially expected now that Udogie is injured again, so good luck to the young man in his trial-by-fire debut.

Notable & quotable:

• Cristian Romero will be suspended for four games due to this being his second red card of the season (the first was a second yellow, for what it's worth). He's also close to being on yellow card accumulation watch when he comes back, since he's already at eight yellows for the whole season; if he hits 10, it'll be a two-match suspension.

• We are now at double-digit losses in the league and have a goal difference of exactly zero.

• This is the fifth time we've been shut out in the Premier League this season.

• We've only taken one point in the league from Manchester United, a team we beat four times in three different competitions last season, including the Europa League final.

• We have now dropped double-digit points in reverse fixtures compared to the first half of the season.

• We're also down four points on identical fixtures from last season (promoted teams excluded). This isn't always a useful metric since fixture schedule order can make a big difference in season outcomes, but it's still concerning since we were only in 12th at this point last season, yet still ended up 17th. We're currently one point behind our points total at the same time last season (MD 25).

WSL MD 15 | Tottenham 0 - 2 Chelsea

Walsh 40', Thompson 50'

The hunt for our first Women's Super League point against Chelsea will continue next season; no luck this campaign.

We had a very promising start to the game, with some very assertive attacking runs. Signe Gaupset and Olivia Holdt were both heavily involved, and Beth England was close to pulling off an acrobatic shot. Sadly, our finishing let us down again.

I felt terrible for Hanna Wijk giving up the unforced corner kick to Chelsea which led to their goal, another long-distance shot from Keira Walsh, similar to the reverse fixture. She was making her WSL debut and often looked overwhelmed by the reigning league champions (understandably so). Much like Souza in the Men's game, this was an unfortunate case of being thrown straight into the fire. It's hard to think of many more difficult matchups for a fullback across global women's football than Chelsea's Alyssa Thompson.

I was hopeful the team would come out strong after halftime and respond, but we ended up conceding another goal in just the 50th minute. Lize Kop made the initial save, but Wijk had been dragged out of position and left Thompson unmarked for the rebound, with no support from further up the pitch.

It's a tall ask to make up a two-goal deficit against Chelsea, especially considering the substitutes they were able to call on. But our own subs deserve some credit for not allowing a drop in level from Spurs. Lenna Gunning-Williams was particularly impressive in her cameo and certainly was cognizant of playing for the badge in a derby match.

Holdt had the best chance of the match in the 81st minute, running onto a through ball from Cathinka Tandberg, and could have at least made Chelsea uneasy in the closing minutes, but her shot went straight at Hannah Hampton.

It's too bad we couldn't manage at least a draw since almost all of the teams below us dropped points, and we could have furthered the gap. But we're still solidly in 5th place for now.

Notable & quotable:

• Eveliina Summanen was celebrated for making her 100th appearance for the club last time out against West Ham United.

• Our goal difference is in the negative once again.

• This was the fourth time we've been shut out all WSL season, but only the second time at a home game.

• We didn't score a goal in either match against Chelsea this season.

• Mathys Tel was in attendance at the game, as was Madonna. Yes, that Madonna.

News from around the Lane

• Spurs Women Academy U16s have reached the PGA Plate final.

• Spurs Women received five nominations across four categories for the London Football Awards:

• Martin Ho for Manager of the Year (PL or WSL)
• Olivia Holdt for WSL Player of the Year
• Tōko Koga and Cathinka Tandberg for Women’s Young Player of the Year Award
• Lize Kop for Goalkeeper of the Year (PL or WSL)

Winners will be announced on March 5.

Up next:

February 10 | Spurs Men vs Newcastle United
Team news — Cristian Romero is suspended; Destiny Udogie is out with a hamstring injury; Kevin Danso and Dejan Kulusevski are consulting with specialists this week about their injuries; Djed Spence is available again and starting.

Note: At today's match, the club will be showing support for the Premier League With Pride campaign, and will also feature special Lunar New Year warm-up tops (Spurs Women will wear them on Sunday at Aston Villa).

All right, roughly fifteen minutes till kickoff! Sorry for such a late issue, but you know... It's the Olympics...

COYS

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