Spencer saves day as Spurs reach Cup semis

REBECCA SPENCER was the hero as her penalty shootout saves sent Tottenham into the women’s FA Cup semi-finals for the first time. Robert Vilahamn’s side had to do it the hard way with Lionesses forward Beth England scoring a 96th-minute equaliser to take the game into extra-time after Mary Fowler had given Manchester City the lead at Brisbane Road. There was still nothing to separate the teams, taking the clash to spot-kicks where Spencer saved City’s first two efforts from England duo Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly. At 3-3 it fell on Amy JamesTurner’s shoulders to take the decisive spot-kick and she beat Khiara Keating to win it. ‘When we scored to make it 1-1 in the last second it was like, “We deserved that”,’ said Vilahamn. ‘In over-time we were actually going for it. I’m very proud of the girls because they showed we can not only compete but we actually beat one of the top three teams, so that’s really nice to see. It’s a wonderful feeling.’ Elsewhere, Catarina Macario scored her second goal in as many games since her return from long-term injury to help Chelsea edge Everton 1-0. It was hard going for the Women’s Super League leaders and boss Emma Hayes praised Macario for producing the goods after 66 minutes. ‘The difference for us was Cat Macario and that little bit of class,’ Hayes told BBC Sport. ‘It was the one bit of quality we needed to win. Everton played well and probably deserved more from the game but this is what you have to do — you have to grind results out.’