Sun 20 April 2025, 19:00
Tottenham HotspurRobert Vilahamn was pleased with the character to fight back in the second half, but was ultimately left disappointed to not come away with any points after Aston Villa edge us 3-2 in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.
Anna Patten capitalised on a strong first half for the visitors by heading home the opener on the half-hour mark after Rachel Daly’s header struck the crossbar before Ebony Salmon doubled their advantage shortly after the break to put Villa in a comfortable position.
However, two goals in a five-minute spell brought us back into the contest. Jess Naz was on hand to fire home from close range after a scramble inside the box to net her third goal of the campaign before Ella Morris rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home to grab her first goal for the Club and in the WSL.
But, our hard work to get us back on level terms came undone in the first minute of stoppage time, as substitute Kirsty Hanson charged into the box and fired home the winner for Villa.
It’s one of those days where you can go on and win it, but they got that chance and scored. We need to look at it, we need to make sure we develop as we need to be better at closing the game out.
Speaking to us after the game, Robert said: “I mean, result-wise, it’s tough to lose another game at home. I think it was quite a good football game, quite intense, a lot of duels, we came from 2-0 down to 2-2 and had some good chances to score more goals, but they got the counterattack and scored to make it 3-2.
“So, performance-wise and how they played, they showed character, I have nothing against that, they’re performing well and they’re creating some good chances, scored some beautiful goals, but we lost because they scored three goals and we scored two.”
On the spirit shown in the second half to fight back…
“You look at the character we had, not giving up, and we found some good energy. Aston Villa made it hard for us as they went, almost, player-to-player marking all over the pitch, they were aggressive, so they made it difficult for us. But we still created a lot of chances, we still scored two goals, we still have most of the possession, so the main thing is if you look at the performance, we’re looking like we want to but we need to get better in both boxes, and we need to make sure we can find wins in these games… it’s tough to lose this one.”
On the goals from Jess Naz and Ella Morris…
“The journey they’re on is beautiful to see, I think they’re pure Spurs players and they will be massive for this Club and I also think they will be massive for the Lionesses as well. I think they both had a really good game along with some of the other players, the substitutes coming on and giving us really good energy as well, so it’s one of those days where you can go on and win it, but they got that chance and scored. We need to look at it, we need to make sure we develop as we need to be better at closing the game out.”
On trying to take positives from the performance…
“It's how you should look at the loss, you need to respect that you lost and make sure you get better as we’re Tottenham Hotspur, we need to win more games. But, on the other hand, we know what we’re doing and where we’re heading, what we want to improve on, how we want to improve, so if you look at that, you can tell they’re trying to do what we want to do and trying to do it for 95 minutes so, in that way, we’re looking for players who are performing in the right direction. We are not there yet where we’re winning games and that’s something we need to fix.”
On the support shown at Brisbane Road this season…
“I just want to say I’m very impressed by the fans, how they supported us. I think this season, they’re giving us so much support and love, which is necessary for us to keep going, and I’m looking forward to seeing them at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a few weeks. We'll try to give them a win, as that’s what they deserve.”
