Spurs 1-1 (4-3) Man City (WFA Cup) | Robert’s verdict: “We deserved that win”
Sun 10 March 2024, 21:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
History was created on Sunday afternoon as we progressed to the semi-final of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup for the first time in our history following a penalty shootout success over Manchester City and Robert Vilahamn couldn’t have been prouder of his side’s performance.
As the fourth official’s board indicated six minutes of additional time, it seemed our journey in the competition was coming to an end, Mary Fowler giving City an early lead, but we dug deep and then, in the final minute of injury-time, Bethany England capitalised on a mistake in City’s backline and slotted home into the empty net.
It forced the game into extra-time before penalties were on the horizon at Brisbane Road as Becky Spencer saved their first two penalties before Amy James-Turner calmly stepped up to secure a 4-3 victory in the shootout, securing a historic appearance in the last four of the competition.
Unsurprisingly Robert was beaming with a smile when speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, he said: “We deserved that win. The game the girls played was amazing, all the players, even those ones coming on.
“It was frustrating to give them that goal so easily - but that’s football. I think the character showed and, in the last 30 minutes of the first half, I thought it was really good football and we pushed them, showed them that we wanted to dictate this game, we were strong with the duels and sharp on the ball.
“Then, in the second half, we took over the game and we went for it and, although we scored in the last second, that created an even better feeling. In extra-time, we were going for it and then Becky Spencer in the penalty shootout, it’s just a wonderful feeling.
“I’m very proud of all the players now because it doesn’t just show that we can compete, but we can beat these top teams, it’s really nice to see.”
Robert was also quick to praise the impact of the players stepping off the bench, including Bethany as she was introduced in the final quarter of the game, but managed to show composure to score the equaliser, netting just her third goal of the campaign.
“The players who started did amazing work, but Jess [Naz] and Olga [Ahtinen] got a little bit tired. Kit [Graham] and Rosella [Ayane] came in with a lot of energy and then Bethany taking over from Martha [Thomas], making sure we had leadership at top and she scored a goal. Shuang [Wang] and Matilda [Vinberg] were also excellent when they came in, I was impressed with those players as well.”
