Spurs 3-0 Leicester City, Women’s FA Cup | Martin Ho’s verdict

Martin Ho was pleased with large parts of our performance in the 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday as we progressed to the fifth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

Having faced the Foxes last weekend in the Barclays Women’s Super League, running out 1-0 winners in that contest, our Head Coach also spoke about the improvement from that game, particularly in the attacking third as we put three past them on this occasion.

Bethany England opened the scoring midway through the first half, slotting home from a tight angle after Signe Gauspet, who was influential once again, saw her effort parried away by Janina Leitzig. We had to patiently wait to extend our advantage, and withstand some pressure from the visitors, but Drew Spence was on hand to double our lead on 74 minutes, with Signe getting the assist.

Then, in the first minute of stoppage time, our two subsitutes linked up to wrap up the victory – Matilda Nilden was denied a goal on her debut after an impressive run into the box but our Academy graduate Lenna Gunning-Williams was there on the rebound to convert her first goal since November, 2022, and secure our spot in the hat for Monday night’s draw.

“I thought it was pleasing in large part,” Martin told us, speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game. “There were lots of moments where we were very good with the ball, very influential and we probably created more big opportunities than we did in the previous game against them – and today we took some of those chances.

"They came near the end, but I think we were persistent in putting pressure on them and forcing them back. Sometimes in games you need to do that. When teams defend low, you must be prepared to break them down. We were patient but still composed enough to take the finishes.

“You always want to score because it settles the nerves. You also want to make sure you capitalise on opportunities when they come your way. A 1–0 scoreline can be difficult because the opposition grows in confidence the longer the game goes on. You can get a little edgy, but the second goal came at the right time and settled us down. After that, we pushed and pushed again. We got into some really good moments, so overall it was really pleasing.”

While the focus will be in front of goal, another strong defensive display saw us preserve our ninth clean sheet of the campaign and, while Martin admitted that Leicester created too many chances, he credited the clean sheet to the ‘whole team’.

“Clean sheets build confidence and belief within the group,” he added. “If I’m being brutally honest, we maybe got away with a few moments today. We gave them too many chances in our build-up during the second half and allowed some counterattacks in the first half. That’s something we can tidy up.

“That said, the clean sheet is a credit to the whole team and the way we defend together. There are still moments where we need to be tighter, because it could have been different if they had taken their chances.”