Penalty Prowess
It was a tale of two London derbies over the weekend(ish), as Spurs Men added another loss to the poor recent record in the NLD, while Spurs Women were flawless from the spot to overcome London City Lionesses in the FA Cup.
The vibes could not be more different across the club's two senior teams, and it largely comes down to mentality. In contrast to the Spurs Women's never-say-die attitude, Spurs Men tend to crumble at the first sign of adversity. In fairness to the latter, the referee's decision that instigated the collapse against Arsenal was one of the more egregiously incorrect calls I've seen in the Premier League in a long time—and that's a pretty high bar! But the fact remains that they just don't have enough resilience in them this season.
In this issue: Arsenal recap | London City recap | News from around the Lane
While Spurs Women pause for a lengthy international break, Spurs Men continue their reluctant involvement in the relegation scrap. A win tomorrow against Fulham would go a long way towards alleviating fans' fears of going down to the Championship, but even though it's one of the lesser London derbies, it's still a grudge match. Interim manager Igor Tudor has his work cut out for him as he tries to rally the team post-NLD defeat.
Elsewhere, there's a Champions League draw to anticipate, WSL awards to vote for, and a supporters' association birthday to celebrate.
PL MD 27 | Tottenham 1 - 4 Arsenal
Kolo Muani 34' | Eze 32' • 61', Gyökeres 47' • 90+4'
It does not do to dwell on results like this lopsided NLD loss, so I won't delve into the particulars of the goals conceded (partially because I have repressed them as best I can).
So what were the other takeaways?
- Igor Tudor's arrival does seem to have reinvigorated Randal Kolo Muani, who previously thrived under Tudor's management at Juventus. It's a shame that a dodgy officiating decision stole his thunder (and his brace), but hopefully he can use this game as a jumping-off point to finish the season strongly. I still don't think it's worth saving a roster spot for him next season as a permanent transfer, but we need all the help we can get in scoring goals as we approach the home stretch of this campaign.
- I'm sorry to be so stuck on one moment of the match, but it truly beggared belief that the VAR official actually looked at the alleged foul by Kolo Muani against Gabriel, let alone decided to uphold the on-field decision after reviewing it. This incident reinforced the popular perception of VAR as merely a tool to overrule valid goals for mysterious reasons, not an important check on real-time officiating. As I said above, the disallowed goal (which would have been a vital equalizer that stemmed Arsenal's momentum after halftime) took all the fight out of the players and cemented the result.
- The back-three experiment was not successful—at least not against this opponent. It doesn't help that this new defensive formation included a backup CB (Radu Drăgușin) and a midfielder (João Palhinha). Perhaps with the centerbacks higher up the pecking order available to play, we could give it another go, but as it stands with the current injuries and suspensions, it's too much of a risk.
Late in the game, substitute Richarlison came close to scoring with a backheel attempt that was barely kept out by a scrambling David Raya. That would have made things interesting at 2-3, but it didn't go in the net, and Arsenal added insult to injury in stoppage time with their second brace of the scoresheet.
At least the tifo was nice.
Notable & quotable:
• Randal Kolo Muani scored his first Premier League goal for Spurs. That's the good news. The bad news is that it took him 19 games (with 13 starts) to get off the mark, putting him at a paltry 5% goals per game.
• This was the first time we've lost three matches in a row in PL play this season.
• After beating Arsenal in a pre-season friendly, we dropped identical 1-4 losses in both league fixtures.
• This was the fifth straight competitive fixture without a result against Arsenal.
• Micky van de Ven, who wore the captain's armband in Cristian Romero's absence, was apologetic in his post-game comments:
The fans were unbelievable today and I have to give credit to them for the full 90 minutes. I know it's also a really tough situation for them, but they kept standing behind us today. It was really important for us, and I think we felt it as well. We wanted to do everything to give them something back but, unfortunately, we couldn't do that today.
• Igor Tudor was honest about his new team being outmatched by their biggest rivals:
I saw something, but there is still a lot of work to do. There are too many problems for this kind of team, so we need to keep working from tomorrow, from Tuesday, more than we did until now. At this moment, this is how it is.
Women's FA Cup Round of 16 | London City Lionesses 2(8) - 2(9) Tottenham
Van de Donk 58', Fernández 59' | Vinberg 7', England (Pen) 90+6' — Spurs win on penalties
I wish I had much more to say about this thrilling penalty shootout win from Spurs Women, but since the game wasn't broadcast in full in the US, neither live nor on replay, I only have the (admittedly thorough) highlights to go off of. Still, that was enough to see that at no point did Spurs give up on the knockout tie during regulation time or extra time, and when we get to a PKs situation, you can always count on Lize Kop to do the business—scoring and saving!
Another surety in this Spurs Women squad is Bethany England's penalty accuracy, and she came up clutch twice: first, to force extra time at the death after London City committed a handball in the box, and second, as the first PK taker in the shootout. Death, taxes, Beth from the spot.
And frankly, the handball should also have earned a red card for DOGSO, which would have been a big advantage for Spurs in extra time, but alas. You can only ask for so many correct decisions from referees, as we well know.
I don't know why I'm doing this recap in reverse chronological order, but I suppose it's also descending order in terms of level of excitement. Matilda Vinberg scored the opening goal, and while it wasn't the prettiest shot she'll ever score from, capitalizing on a loose touch from Jana Fernández, it's nice to see her display some scrappiness in contrast to her usual "bangers only" strategy.
The back-to-back goal concessions in the second half were a tough blow, but I never doubt this team's ability to stay calm, stick to the plan, and get back in the game. From the outside looking in, it may seem like mere good luck to have finagled a penalty in the dying moments, but again, it would have been a goal if not for the handball.
It also wasn't a case of a penalty shootout that feels like a coin flip; these were professional penalties from every single kicker for Spurs. Supposedly, the team did not practice PKs as a team ahead of the match, but clearly the players have been doing some practice of their own volition. There's no other explanation for that level of confidence, from the designated strikers like England and Cathinka Tandberg that you would expect to convert, all the way to the defenders like Hanna Wijk (who scored the final, winning PK), who would not have been expecting to have to step up.
I must reiterate that for the second time this season—in two different cup competitions—Kop has scored a penalty herself and made at least one save. She is simply built different.
And one more bit of individual kudos to give out: Lenna Gunning-Williams received wide praise from fans for her substitute appearance and has been growing into her role as an impact sub in this second half of the season. She got some redemption for missing her PK in the League Cup shootout against Aston Villa as well, scoring Spurs' penultimate spot kick in this shootout.
Speaking of redemption, it felt good to knock London City out of the cup after such a disappointing loss in the Women's Super League away fixture against them earlier in the season. This feels like a budding rivalry, which will be all the more enjoyable for the close proximity (as opposed to our one true WSL rivalry with Manchester United).
Of course, every game is important to a player like Tinka who is fully COYS. She's already achieving cult favorite status with her efforts on the pitch, but she surely gained a few more ride-or-die fans when she leapt over the hoardings to celebrate with the away contingent, who got to enjoy the penalty shootout up close since it was on their end. This is the magic of the cup.
That magic was at risk in future seasons as the FA was considering making changes to the competition structure, including seeding the previous season's top four WSL teams so they could avoid playing each other in early rounds and creating a bracket from the Round of 32 onward (eliminating draws past that round). The linked column by Tom Garry explains how the proposed changes would favor the teams that are already the most successful in the competition's history and effectively "kill the magic" of the cup. Thankfully, these proposals have been put on hold following significant fan backlash and consultation with the Football Supporters’ Association, and will have to undergo further consultation with stakeholders before being put to a vote for implementation no sooner than the 2027/28 season.
Of course, when you get to the later rounds of the cup, it's almost inevitable that you get drawn with one of those top-4 teams. And indeed, Spurs will face Chelsea away in the quarter-finals.
Notable & quotable:
• This was Matilda Vinberg's first cup goal of the season.
• The fixture location, date, and kickoff time for the quarter-final match with Chelsea haven't been decided yet, but that round will take place the weekend of April 5.
• Martin Ho admitted that he couldn't bear to watch the penalties, but was sure to commend everyone who stepped up to take a spot kick:
When you have that walk from the halfway line up to the penalty spot and when you get there, you've got to make sure that you're composed and you're relaxed—that's easy for us to say because we're not the ones stepping up but they'll feel a lot of pressure. The composure they showed to take those penalties and how well they were executed is a credit to the players because they're the ones who have to step up and do it. Lize, as I said, makes a fantastic save to win us the game and put us into a quarter-final.
• Lize Kop remarked on how eager she was to take a penalty herself and also reflected on the FA Cup journey the team is on:
I feel like I've got a good kick and I don't know, I just love to score. If I get the opportunity to score, like I'm a goalkeeper, when do you get the chance to score Eventually, I know my job is to save the penalties. I think it gave me confidence that I could score one because I take them in training and I'm happy Chris [Williams] trusted me to give me a penalty.
Today was not an easy game. It's so special to go through and this is a tournament where you want to stay in and we want to go to Wembley eventually, so what we did today was the first step to that.
News from around the Lane
• There's a lot going on this international break on the Women's side, so make sure you bookmark the club's live blog for the Asian Cup and all the other international action. There's also a handy schedule of fixtures here.
• It's time to get voting, because Spurs Women are well-represented in the February WSL Awards.
• Spurs Men have been drawn with Atlético de Madrid for the Champions League Round of 16, and the fixtures will be as follows:
- Away leg on March 10, 8 pm UK/3 pm ET
- Home leg on March 18, 8 pm UK/3 pm ET
• Finally, a heartfelt congratulations to the Proud Lilywhites on their 12th anniversary. Here are some meaningful comments from Proud Lilywhites member Christopher Lewis:
I know our club is not perfect, but we do have a choice about what kind of home we create. If you want to do your part, it doesn't have to be complicated. Welcome the new faces in your row. Bring a mate who has never felt football was for them. Challenge homophobia, racism, misogyny, and any other unnecessary hate when you hear it.
Up next:
March 1 | Spurs Men @ Fulham
Team news — Kevin Danso and Pedro Porro are available for selection; Micky van de Ven is also available after picking up a small injury to his toe in the Arsenal game; Cristian Romero is still suspended.
I'll close this issue with a couple of heartwarming photos. The first is the victorious Spurs Women team celebrating their FA Cup knockout win in the dressing room, and the second is Archie Gray walking out for the NLD with James Maddison's son as his mascot. Two fully COYS moments.
COYS
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