Becky Spencer was the hero of Tottenham’s stunning penalty shootout win over Manchester City that took them to the FA Cup semi-finals. Spencer saved two of City’s five penalties against English duo Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly, with Spurs converting all but one to secure victory.
Mary Fowler’s early goal – a reward for City manager Gareth Taylor for his rare start – appeared to make the difference. It was City’s 11th clean sheet against Spurs this season, but the home side had learned from the three previous meetings and Bethany England’s 96th-minute goal, which forced extra time and then a penalty shootout, was richly deserved.
It was City’s third trip to north London in 42 days, following a thrilling 7-0 defeat to Tottenham in Manchester in November, and it was a happy hunting ground as the visiting side ran away 2-0. 0 winner in the league and promotion to the Continental Cup with a 1-0 win.
Robert Vilahamn made two changes to the side that impressed in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. Kit Graham was on the bench, replaced by Olga Ahtinen, and Molly Bartrip had to withdraw late due to illness.
For Taylor, who signed a new three-and-a-half year contract last week, there were two changes to the team that suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Continental Cup semi-final in midweek with Australian striker Fowler and midfielder Filippa Angeldahl replaced Kelly and Laura Coombs, who were on the bench.
It took just six minutes for City to quell their frustration over conceding an early goal against Chelsea and it was 21-year-old Fowler who provided the breakthrough, sending Khadija Shaw’s shot into the net with a fierce deflection.
City should have played for the second time ten minutes after the restart when Shaw headed over the bar from a few yards out after being picked out by Leila Ouahabi. There were concerns for Taylor as Shaw had to be forced off with 20 minutes to play with an apparent shoulder injury.
As the clock ticked down and the lead was still just one goal, Spurs’ confidence grew – Celin Bizet was close to converting Grace Clinton’s cross in her best chance.
Still City didn’t seem to be bothered by the loss of a small portion of possession, their first half dominance dropping from 74% in the first half to 71% in the second regulation period. England’s substitution with ten minutes left gave hope to the lively home crowd. Her through ball for Bizet was artfully blocked by the City back line before being pulled back for what appeared to be a false offside position as Spurs showed more urgency.
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Macario sinks Everton and sends Chelsea through
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Substitute Catarina Macario (pictured) scored three minutes into her second-half appearance to send Chelsea into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win over Everton.
The USA international was still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament problem when she signed with the Blues last summer, but made an impressive first impression when she scored on her debut in the Women’s Super League win over Leicester last week .
Emma Hayes made six changes from Thursday’s Conti Cup semi-final win over Manchester City, but Chelsea failed to open the scoring in a cagey first half, with Nathalie Bjorn’s header hitting the crossbar , the closest before the centre-back was sent off and replaced by Niamh Charles in the 14th minute.
The Toffees had their chances, Kathrine Kühl forced Zecira Musovic into a good save with a sharp attempt, but was unable to do anything from a series of set pieces. Chelsea missed their best chance to take the lead before half-time when Jelena Cankovic missed the goal from a promising position after good work from Johanna Kaneryd and released the Serbia international.
Macario, one of four second-half substitutes for Chelsea, finally equalized in the 66th minute when she canceled out Aggie Beever-Jones’ cutback. Katja Snoeijs was inches away from putting things right, but Chelsea held on to keep their chances alive and become the second English team in history to achieve the quadruple, after Arsenal in 2007.
Chelsea, who will determine their FA Cup semi-final opponents in Tuesday morning’s draw, face Ajax in the Champions League quarter-finals this month before taking on Arsenal for the Conti Cup on March 31. PA Media
A few moments later, England had a golden opportunity to equalize when substitute Graham found it from the edge of the box, but the striker turned and fired over from close range. However, in the final minute of six minutes of stoppage time, she made no mistake, taking advantage of a mix-up between Khiara Keating and Laia Aleixandri, winning the ball and firing into the empty net.
The momentum was with the home side in extra time but they struggled to find the final ball as an English header from close range went as close as they came. City were similarly toothless, with substitute Kelly forcing Spencer into a stunning save at her best chance, but it would take a penalty shootout to separate them.
Spencer was unable to unsettle Yui Hasegawa, Angeldahl and Fowler, who all went in but parried captain Alex Greenwood’s tame penalty and England penalty maestro Kelly to send Spurs into the semi-finals, with Keating only taking the shot by Rosella Ayane As England converted, Amanda Nilden, Wang Shuang and Amy James-Turner.
Tottenham will determine their semi-final opponents on Tuesday. Included are Leicester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
