Just because Liverpool scored in the the 94th and 95th minutes, that does not Spurs were unlucky. They were not robbed of a hard-fought away point. This was an atrocious performance long before Mia Enderby scored. It was by far the worst, and most inexcusable, showing since Martin Ho took over and revitalised the team.
Tottenham could have been behind from as early as the second minute, as Auriéle Csillag hit the bar. She went on to have other chances, demanding saves from Lize Kop. It was Ceri Holland who was the real danger, though. Josefine Rybrink simply could not stop her, and there is a strong case that Ho should have replaced his fullback.
Spurs' only good chance was spurned by Signe Gaupset, put clean through on goal. The only players who return to north London with any credit are Drew Spence and Bethany England. The former has been one of the team's best performers this season and again worked gallantly to get things going from midfield. The latter tried to lead from the front, but found herself having to do far too much defensive work. She only really had one decent chance - a difficult header at goal that cause ultimately little trouble.
Ho had a face like thunder at the end. It said everything. The away loss to London City Lionesses earlier in the season was frustrating. Sunday was unforgivable.
Failure to Hurt Opponents
Data generated using Twelve Football's Earpiece tool underlines the issues with the Tottenham performance. Almost every facet of their game was worse than the average for the season. Interestingly, they had 54% possession and their overall attacking play was better than the season avearge. However, they struggled to make clear cut chances, ending with just one shot on target and an xG of 0.9.
At the other end of the pitch, Liverpool were able to get into the area and had 16 shots. Six of these were on target, leaving them with an xG of 3.26 and, more importantly, their first win of the season.
Spurs Must Bounce Back After Liverpool Disaster
We cannot dismiss the progress that has been made in a short period of time, nor how hard it is to bring a number of new players all at the same time. However, this was a game that really had to be won if Tottenham had any aspirations of being in the Champions League next season. That dream is done now, with both Man Utd and Arsenal pulling away.
The key question now is whether Ho and his players can learn from the mistakes and get back to winning ways against West Ham. They need to show that the defeat to Liverpool was a blip, not the start of a season derailing.
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