Spurs 2-1 West Ham (WSL) | Robert’s verdict: “The players showed a good attitude to come back”
Sun 03 November 2024, 19:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Vilahamn was full of praise for his players’ character to complete a second half turnaround at Brisbane Road to secure a 2-1 win over West Ham United in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.
A second goal of the campaign for Bethany England before a stoppage-time own goal from Camila Saez earned us our first win in the league since the season opener against Crystal Palace in September.
Riko Ueki headed home Viviane Assyei’s corner eight minutes before the break to hand the visitors the lead in a first half of few clear-cut chances.
However, it only took us six minutes after the restart to find the equaliser, Bethany England slotting home from close range, before Saez’s own goal in the first minute of stoppage-time handed us a much-needed win.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, Robert acknowledged that it wasn’t the best performance from his side but was pleased to come back and claim the three points.
“We had a game plan that we knew we needed to defend better and to make sure we focused on the duels, perhaps not the best game in how we play, but the biggest thing was to get back on a winning track,” he told us.
“The players showed good attitude to come back from one-nil down, to turn the game around and keep pushing for 90 minutes. Sometimes you need that win to build some self-confidence, and some really nice minutes for Lenna as well.”
Asked about the important of Bethany’s goal after the break, he added: “It shows the character, that although everything doesn’t fall our way in some scenarios, it shows determination as well from them, Matilda and then Bethany being there to score that goal for us – that was really important for us.
“We had a few chances, we scored two goals again, which is quite good, and we continue to take steps.”
Next up for Robert’s side is a trip to Manchester City on Friday night at Ethiad Stadium before welcoming Arsenal to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 16 November – tickets remain available – and he was asked on what steps need to be taken before those two games.
“We need to understand that we will need to defend quite a bit in those two games because they’re very good teams. On the other hand, we need to make sure we keep building our identity, how we play, so a mixture of our style of football and being brave but also make sure we respect the opponent and defend very well,” Robert explained.
“We need to look a little more at the set-pieces because they scored from a corner while we had a lot but failed to score. We’re in and around where we should be, but we also need to make sure we develop and, I think, the character that the players showed today was the most important thing and we’re winning together with the supporters.”
