City leave it late to hold Tottenham to a draw and gain first point
IT was a thriller at Twerton Park at the weekend, with a late twist to the match action as Bristol City Women got their first point on the board following a tumultuous few weeks.
After a hammering by Manchester City, five players missing for that game and now manager Tanya Oxtoby absent due to a positive coronavirus test in midweek, the home side did well to rally and come from behind to grab a late injury time score to stop Tottenham Hotspur ladies grabbing victory in Bath on Saturday.
US superstar Alex Morgan was denied a winning full Barclays FA Women’s Super League debut after Ebony Salmon’s late leveller stunned Spurs and salvaged City’s first point of the season in a pulsating 2-2 draw.
The Robins had opened the scoring against the run of play when Chloe Logarzo scored from the penalty spot, only for Spurs to equalise shortly afterwards as Siri Worm’s corner deceived everyone to curl into the far corner.
Ashleigh Neville’s second-half header then put the visitors in front but after Rianna Dean was sent off, Salmon pounced late on to get Oxtoby’s team their maiden point of the campaign.
The hosts came into the match on a wretched run of form - pointless after five games having conceded 28 goals - and the game started as their record suggested with Spurs dominating most of the ball.
Despite the inclusion of iconic USA striker Morgan for her first start, the away side struggled to break down a resolute Bristol City defence in the first half with chances at a premium.
But it was City who took the lead against the run of play. A breakaway counter-attack led to a penalty after Yana Daniels was hauled down in the area, with Logarzo calmly converting the spot kick to put the hosts in front.
Spurs made a swift response in unlikely circumstances, however, as Worm’s in-swinging corner from the right-hand-side deceived everyone and curled into the far corner
to restore parity. Morgan was replaced by Dean at half time and Spurs continued to dominate, going ahead on 64 minutes with Worm once again at the heart of things.
Indeed, it was her curling free kick that found Neville unmarked in the middle to head in from close range and give the away side the lead. However, the game turned again when Dean was sent off for a challenge on Robins keeper Sophie Baggaley with ten minutes to go.
City continued to push for an equaliser and their numerical advantage eventually proved decisive, as Salmon struck late, late on to secure Oxtoby and her team’s maiden point of the FA WSL season.
Bristol City caretaker manager Gary Probert said: “I think from the performance you saw tonight, you can see that we have a side here that works hard and want to improve and I think they have been unbelievable.
“With that said, I’m really pleased that they have been able to get off the mark tonight because I thought the endeavour they showed right until the end was very good.”
Tottenham boss Karen Hills said: “I think the game was pretty scrappy and you could feel that it was an important game for both teams.
“To initially go behind was obviously not in the gameplan, but I thought we brushed ourselves off, had that belief and up until the red card I felt we were in control.
“We tried to see the game out as best we could, but unfortunately we were caught and Ebony does what she does best and nicks them a point.”