Liverpool 1-1 Spurs (WSL) | Robert’s verdict: “We should close the game out”
Robert Vilahamn was disappointed to concede late on as we shared the points at Prenton Park following a 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
Celin Bizet netted her fourth goal of the season to give us the lead on 70 minutes, getting on the end of Martha Thomas’ cross to loop an effort over Rachel Laws, before Amanda Nildén and Shuang Wang both had opportunities to extend our advantage.
However, we were to rue those missed chances, as in the first minute of the seven allocated, Marie Hobinger sent a low-driven effort into the bottom corner to secure a point for the Reds, and Robert reflected on the failure to kill the game off beforehand.
“It was a hard game to play in this wind, but I think we tried to play our style,” Robert said in his post-match interview with SPURSPLAY. “I thought it was quite even in the first half and then we had a poor first 10 minutes in the second half, however, we had a good attack and scored an amazing goal.
“We then took over and created some chances, we should close the game out, but they come back in the last minute and scored a goal. If you look over the 90 minutes, it might be an okay result, but when you take the lead and have those chances, of course, you want to win it.
“On the other hand, it was a hard game to play today and you couldn’t expect us to play out the back in those conditions. If you look at their goal, the wind takes the ball and you have to take decisions, it’s hard to train that.
“I’m just looking at what we are doing, how we press and if you look at how we scored our goal, then I’m happy with that performance but we need to learn how to win games.”
Despite conceding late on, we limited the Reds to very few opportunities and Robert was pleased with the defensive performance, highlighting the improvement throughout the squad.
“They defended very well as Liverpool didn’t get many chances and the goal just came from a miscommunication really. So, I’m happy with how we pressed and how we defended, we have taken steps there and you need to do that if you want to beat the top teams in this league.
“We have taken steps forward, whether that’s out of possession or in possession, and you can tell the players are getting better, especially the new players coming in and getting minutes, playing the way we want to play and that will be good for us in the long run.”