Spurs 2-1 Aston Villa (WSL) | Martin Ho's verdict
Sun 07 December 2025, 16:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Martin Ho thought the late turnaround to come from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa 2-1 with a stoppage time winner showcases a ‘sign of a good group’ and the character within the squad.
With the game goalless on the hour mark, it ultimately sparked into life four minutes later when the visitors were down to 10 players after Oceane Deslandes received a second yellow card and was dismissed. However, despite us having the player advantage, it was the visitors who took the lead through Kirsty Hanson with six minutes left on the clock.
But we issued the perfect response less than 60 seconds later, Bethany England heading home an equaliser for her third of the campaign, before in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Olivia Holdt fired home the winner after a lovely assist from Drew Spence.
The last-gasp winner ensured we collect three points in our final home game of 2025 and register our best-ever start to a WSL campaign at this stage.
Speaking to us after the game, Ho said: “I’ve still got emotions [after the game] - lots of pride and passion for the result. There’s a bit of frustration with some of our play where we want to be better, but I understand that when you come back after an international break, you sometimes need time to find those relationships and rhythms again. But overall, with everything we’ve had thrown at us this week, the injuries and the moment we had with Jess [Naz], I thought the players’ response was good – and that shows the sign of a really good group.
“Character is exactly the right word. It’s a sign of good teams: when you face adversity, how do you react? And I thought the players were brilliant. We got the ball out wide straight away, a brilliant cross from Amanda [Nilden] and a really good header from Bethany. Then we had some patient play down this side [the right], Olivia goes in, and it’s a superb finish. I’m absolutely delighted for the group because when you're not at your best, you still want to find ways to win - and we did that today.
He was then asked how important the win over a strong Villa side could be ahead of a double-header against Manchester United – first in the WSL before a quarter-final clash in the Women’s League Cup.
“It’s really important - for confidence, belief, and momentum,” he told us. “We’ve done really well at home this year, putting in big performances. Today we weren’t at our best, but I thought the second half was much better than the first. We created good openings and had the bigger chances in the game. When those moments come, you have to capitalise and we did with Bethany and Olivia.”
