The lowdown on Crystal Palace 0 Tottenham 4 – Eagles fall to heavy defeat on WSL debut as Chelsea loanee Aspin sees red
BY GINA BAGNULO & ANDREW MCSTEEN
Crystal Palace made their first-ever appearance in the Women’s Super League in a 4-0 loss against Tottenham at Brisbane Road on Sunday.
This was a historic day for the Eagles as they played their maiden game in the top flight of English women’s football.
Despite it being a monumental game for the club, it would be a grim one as Palace were comprehensibly seen off on their top-flight first outing.
Here is the lowdown from the match:
The LINE-UPS
Palace: Yanez (GK), Veje (Aspin 64), Gibbons (Woodham 82), Everett, Blanchard, Weerden (Larkin 64), Green, Potter, Riley (Mae-Sharpe 75), Geji, Stengel (Pritchard 82).
Subs: Majasaari (GK), Arthur, Woodham, Atkinson.
Tottenham: Spencer (GK), Bartnip, Nilden (Grant 87), Naz (Csiki 64), Raso (Gunning-Williams 87), Oroz, Hunt, Thomas (England 62), Spence, Summanen (Ahitnen 77), Neville.
Subs: Talbert (GK), Vinberg, Bulher, Dennis, Gunning-Williams.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Both teams seemed equally matched at the start of the first half, with Katrine Veje and Ashleigh Weerden taking centre stage. Veje attempted to cross the ball into the Tottenham box but the header that followed was unable to find the net. Weerden also provided speed on the ground, carrying the ball up the pitch into the Tottenham half.
While Palace put up a good fight in their first match in the WSL, it was not to last as Australia international Hayley Raso scored Tottenham’s first goal, kicking the ball into the bottom-hand corner. Raso was one of Tottenham’s most prized signings of the summer transfer window and moved from Real Madrid earlier this month.
Tottenham’s second goal was scored early in the second half by Jessica Naz, who has been with the club since 2018. Palace’s luck only worsened as the match continued. Indeed, a flick from Beth England was all Drew Spence needed to get a third point for her team as she fired the ball into the bottom corner of the visitor’s net. Tottenham’s fourth and final goal was scored by Finnish international Olga Ahitnen soon after she was subbed on.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Over the course of the summer transfer window, Palace signed several defensive players, including their new goalkeeper Shae Yanez. It was thus no surprise that the Palace starting lineup consisted of several of these new signings, such as Yanez, Veje and Weerden.
Despite what appeared to be a strong defensive line on paper, going forward, Palace will need to work on their attack as the team only had four shots on goal but none on target.
BEST MOMENT
Palace’s best moment was undoubtedly their entry onto the pitch and the WSL stage for the first time. While the Eagles are still newcomers, the team has a lot of potential and by extension, the ability to recover from this loss.
STAR WOMAN
Shae Yanez. She proved her prowess on the pitch by saving a handful of shots. Throughout the match, Tottenham had 26 shots, with 17 being on target, all of which Yanez had to cope with. The scoreline was not reflective of her ability in the net.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“Our main point is that this result does not define our season. We’re going to be here to stay and that’s part one of several games throughout the season. For us to really take away the learnings from today, I felt ready to play this competitive fixture in terms of the WSL league fixture and I think we needed that competitive fixture to now really take away the information and work on our improvements.”