Debutant Holdt hits dramatic late free-kick to see off Palace comeback

Olivia Holdt had a debut to remember as she stepped off the bench to hit a dramatic 95th-minute winner as we edged Crystal Palace 3-2 in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.

A late substitution in the second half to make her first appearance in our colours since signing at the start of the month, the Denmark international certainly made her mark as, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, she curled home a free-kick from the edge of the box and into the top left corner, seeing off a second-half comeback from the Eagles.

Despite a controlled first-half performance and a brace from Bethany England – two superb headers – giving us a two-goal advantage, we were made to work for it after the restart as goals from Katie Stengel and Ashleigh Weerden brought the scores level midway through the second period.

But Holdt, playing her first competitive minutes since September, ensured we left the VBS Community Stadium with three points, extending our unbeaten run to four games in the WSL.

Olivia Holdt 🤍⚽️

Welcome 🤩 pic.twitter.com/3DhLmacJvp

— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) January 26, 2025

In difficult conditions at kick off in Sutton, with heavy rain falling, Lize Kop was called into action early on to deny Stengel from inside the box while, at the other end, England tested Milla-Maj Majasaari with a low curling effort after intercepting Aimee Everett’s pass on the edge of the box.

My Cato wasn’t far away from opening the scoring with a left-footed effort that just went narrowly over the bar but, in the 14th-minute, our captain broke the deadlock with a lovely, guided header into the bottom corner after a superb cross from Csiki, who was making her first start in the WSL, to put it on a plate for England.

Eight minutes later, and we doubled our lead. Maite Oroz’s corner from the left was met by England once again as she rose the highest to send a powerful header towards goal, with the Palace shot-stopper only able to push the ball into the roof of the net. Having built a two-goal advantage, we controlled large spells of possession for the remainder of the first half, although the home side continued to pose a threat on the counter.

Palace needed a quick response after the break, and they certainly got that three minutes after the break as Stengel swept home Molly-Mae Sharpe’s low cross at the front post. On the hour mark, we thought we had reinstated our two-goal advantage when England fired home from close range, but the assistant referee flagged for offside, and just four minutes later, the home side grabbed the equaliser as Weerden met Stengel’s cross from the left to slot the ball under Kop and into the back of the net.

As the clock ticked towards the final 10 minutes of the game, England squandered a massive opportunity to put us back ahead after terrific work from Naz on the byline to tee up our captain just outside the six-yard box, but she completely scuffed her effort. As the fourth official indicated an extra seven minutes at the, a moment of quality was needed to win the game - and that came in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Fellow substitute Jess Naz was brought down right on the edge of the box and Holdt stepped over the free-kick before curling home the free-kick into the top left corner to secure back-to-back wins in the WSL since the turn of the new year.

Match data

Goals: Palace – Stengel 48, Weerden 64; Spurs – England 15, 23, Holdt 90+5.

Yellow cards: Palace – Woodham 87, Everett 90+3; Spurs – Raso 17.

Referee: Lucy May.

Stadium: VBS Community Stadium.

Weather: Heavy rain and wind, seven degrees.