Tottenham Hotspur Women drew with rivals Arsenal Women at The Hive Stadium
By Haran Naresh

The Hive Stadium (credit Katie Chan/Wikimedia Commons)

Tottenham Hotspur Women ended Arsenal Women’s 100% WSL record in an entertaining North London derby.

Rachel Williams gave Tottenham the lead mid-way through the second-half but this was cancelled out by an injury-time header from Vivianne Miedema.

Arsenal had a big chance inside the first 40 seconds. Katie McCabe played a one-two with Vivianne Miedema then picked out Beth Mead at the far post and Tinja-Riika Korpela quickly came off her line to smother the shot.

Arsenal penned Spurs back in the early stages. The home side couldn’t get out of their own defensive third.

In spite of Arsenal’s territorial dominance, Tottenham were able to restrict the number of chances on their goal.

In the 21st minute, Miedema received the ball on the edge of the area and sent Ria Percival the wrong way by cutting inside and hit a fierce shot that was saved by Korpela.

Arsenal came very close to taking the lead with 27 minutes gone. Mead fired in a free-kick from a narrow angle which Korpela tipped onto the bar.

Ashleigh Neville gave the ball away in a dangerous area and Miedema turned the Spurs defence inside out before sending a shot off target.

McCabe released an effort from 20 yards out which hit the crossbar.

Arsenal increased the tempo of their play towards the end of the first half.

In the 46th minute Noelle Maritz found Miedema in the six-yard box but Molly Bartrip made an excellent block to deny an almost certain goal.

Tottenham were much more aggressive at the start of the second half.

Arsenal were denied an excellent opportunity to take the lead with 52 minutes on the clock. Stephanie Catley crossed to Mead, who mis-controlled the ball, which wrong-footed Kerys Harrop and Korpela did brilliantly to make the save.

Miedema eased past Neville and drove infield but could only hit a shot that went well wide.

In the 57th minute Miedema was played through on goal but Neville tracked her run and made a last-ditch block.

Chioma Ubogagu sent Catley the wrong way with a dummy and hit a shot which was easily collected by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger.

The home side took the lead in the 65th minute. Kyah Simon’s cross reached Kit Graham and Zinsberger pushed her shot towards Williams. Williams’ scuffed effort was saved before Zinsberger and Harrop failed to clear, which allowed Williams to bundle the ball in.

Spurs missed a golden chance to double their lead in the 71st minute. Shelina Zadorsky fired across goal and Zinsberger pushed the ball into the path of Neville, who inexplicably blazed over from point-blank range.

Arsenal struggled to sustain attacks in the way they did in the first half.

In the 80th minute Simon took a touch before hitting a half-volley that whistled wide.

Arsenal laid siege to the Spurs goal and found the equaliser in injury time. From a corner, Miedema rose above Zadorsky and powered a header into the net.

The away team piled on the pressure in the closing minutes but Tottenham were able to hold on to claim a point.

Tottenham will be disappointed that they could not see the game out for the win but can still take positives from their performance.

Spurs were dominated in the first half and rode their luck at times but were rewarded for their significantly improved second-half showing.

Rehanne Skinner will be particularly impressed with her team’s defensive resilience, considering Tottenham suffered a 5-0 drubbing in the FA Cup fixture between these teams in September.

Tottenham Hotspur Women visit Watford Women in the Continental League Cup on Wednesday.

Tottenham Hotspur Women manager Rehanne Skinner speaking post-match to BBC Sport: “It’s a massive point for us. The girls have worked incredibly hard for us again today so we’ve got to take all the positives out of it.”

“We weren’t very positive in possession in the first half. I was disappointed at half-time that we didn’t try and play forward.”

“We were more positive going into it. We ended up creating some chances in the second half. We had an open goal and should have had another.”

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