Spurs Women suffer Conti Cup loss to the holders

Spurs Women fell to a 2-0 defeat against Chelsea in our second fixture in Group B of the Continental League Cup on Tuesday evening (3 November).

Two late goals from Erin Cuthbert and Melanie Leupolz gave the Blues, who are unbeaten so far this season, three points at Kingsmeadow as they moved top of the group table.

Head coaches Juan Amoros, and Karen Hills, who was absent from the dugout while she continues to self-isolate, made four changes from the defeat against Arsenal last month with Siri Worm, Lucia Leon, Rosella Ayane and captain Josie Green coming into the starting eleven.

We had an early chance in the seventh minute to take the lead in the London derby after Angela Addison won a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the penalty area following a foul from Millie Bright. Worm curled the set-piece over the wall towards the right corner, but her attempt struck the post.

Pernille Harder fired a shot over the crossbar from close range 14 minutes later after Jonna Andersson’s cross from the left was nodded down by Niamh Charles into the path of the Blues’ forward.

The hosts had another good opportunity to break the deadlock just before the interval after we failed to deal with a cross in from Chelsea skipper Magdalena Eriksson before the ball fell to Bright, who hit it on the half-volley, forcing Becky Spencer into a superb save.

After the interval, Rianna Dean won the ball deep in Chelsea’s half before playing it to Ayane who attempted to lob Ann-Katrin Berger from distance, but her effort went just wide.

After standing firm in defence for most of the game, the hosts eventually managed to find a breakthrough with 20 minutes remaining - Cuthbert took the ball from Leupolz and hit a swerving shot from 25 yards, which flew into the top corner.

We should have equalised five minutes later after Ria Percival’s deflected cross landed at the feet of Ayane - her powerful effort looked destined for the top corner but a great save by Berger maintained the Blues' lead.

Emma Hayes' side extended their advantage in the 84th minute after being awarded a penalty for a handball by Kerys Harrop who blocked a long-range effort from Sophie Ingle.

Spencer dived the right way for Leupolz’s spot kick but couldn’t stop the ball from going into the back of the net.

Blues substitute Beth England came close to scoring a third for the hosts before the final whistle but was denied by a fine save from Spencer.

We return to Barclays FA Women’s Super League action on Saturday (7 November) looking for our first league win of the season when we host Reading at The Hive, kick-off is 2pm and fans will be able to watch the game live on The FA Player.

Coach's view 

Head coach Juan Amoros said: "Our performance was very positive and definitely something to be proud of. We worked really hard over the last couple of weeks after our performance that wasn't good enough against Arsenal and I think the girls did everything we asked of them. They worked together in attacking, defending, in transitions and set pieces and everything they did, they did it together. I am a bit gutted for them because, yes, we lost the game, but we probably deserved a little bit more and it was obviously a bad result because we want to win, even if we're playing against some of the best in the world, we want to perform well in every game and I think we can say we did that tonight." 

Match data

Goals: Chelsea - Cuthbert 70, Leupolz 84 (pen).

Yellow cards: Chelsea - Flemming 68; Spurs - Neville 90.

Referee: Emily Heaslip.

Venue: Kingsmeadow.

Weather: Clear, seven degrees.

Attendance: Behind closed doors.