Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 West Ham United Women
Barclays FA Women’s Super League
The Hive
Sunday 16 January 2022
Kate Longhurst’s looping header in the dying moments of the match secured a 1-1 draw for West Ham United in a thrilling match with Tottenham Hotspur.
The Irons looked certain to end their opening Barclays FA Women’s Super League match of 2022 in defeat thanks to Rosella Ayane’s penalty on 54 minutes, while the sending-off of Hawa Cissoko just a minute later left the away side with a difficult challenge.
But the Irons continued to fight and got their reward two minutes into added time at the end of the game as Longhurst turned in a well-placed cross with a superb headed effort.
Under the lights of The Hive Stadium, the scene was set for an entertaining London derby, but it was the home side with the best of the initial chances.
Grace Fisk was forced into a superb block just four minutes into the match while the combination of Gilly Flaherty and Hawa Cissoko forced Ayane into an early shot, comfortably saved by the WSL-debuting Anna Leat in the West Ham net.
The Hammers grew into the game as Longhurst and Dagny Bryanjarsdottir combined well to play in Katerina Svitkova, only for the attempt to be cut out in the penalty area, before the Icelandic international had a shot blocked from around 20 yards.
The best chance of the half fell West Ham’s way just a minute before half-time as a corner in was met excellently by Bryanjarsdottir. The ball was nodded back across goal to the waiting Fisk, but the centre-back could not turn her first-time effort in, instead sending it over the bar.
Claudia Walker also saw a first-time shot deflected over as the game remained without a score in the opening 45 minutes.
The Irons would have been rightly confident after such a strong closing period in the first half, but two decisions early in the second would turn the game on its head.
Cissoko’s challenge on Ria Percival on 53 minutes inside the penalty area was ruled by referee Amy Fearn to have been a foul, meaning a penalty was awarded to Spurs. Ayane would step up to take and, despite Leat diving the right way, the Hammers goalkeeper could not stop Spurs from opening the scoring.
Just a minute later, West Ham were down to ten players and Cissoko, shown a yellow card in the first half, received a second for another challenge. The French defender was given her marching orders, leaving the Irons with a proverbial mountain to climb.
To the credit of Harder’s team, West Ham kept fighting, forcing a series of corners, although the excellent Leat was drawn into another terrific save after Jiali Tang’s shot one-on-one.
And the Irons grabbed their deserved reward with just a minute to play as Longhurst got her team a terrific equaliser, celebrating with all the expected passion of a lifelong West Ham United supporter making the difference in a London derby.
Tottenham Hotspur: Spencer; Bartrip, Harrop, Zadorsky (c), Percival, Neville, Naz (Addison 71), Clemaron (Williams 46), Ayane (Ubogagu 78), Tang, Green
Subs not used: Korpela, Morgan, Ale,
Goal: Ayane 54 (pen)
West Ham United: Leat; Fisk, Cissoko, Flaherty (c); Longhurst, Stringer (Wynne 46), Snearle (Parker 67), Brynjarsdottir, Svitkova; Evans, Walker (Filis 85)
Subs not used: Moore, Joel, Cairns, Garrad, Houssein
Goal: Longhurst 90+2
Referee: Amy Fearn
Attendance: 678
Booked: Stringer 18, Cissoko 30 (second yellow 55), Longhurst 57