An early red card and their first WSL goal conceded of the season caused Palace to crumble under pressure to a strong Spurs side.
Crystal Palace Women suffered their first defeat of the Women’s Super League season as they hosted Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park.
After one of their best ever results holding Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates last week and securing their first WSL victory on the opening weekend with a 1-0 victory over Everton, Palace fans were hoping to continue the strong form.
Instead Palace suffered a disheartening result after being reduced to ten early on in the game and then crumbling when their clean sheet record was lost.
Jo Potter's side went down to 10 in the 7th minute with Fuka Tsunoda shown a red for a reckless tackle on Spurs forward Cathinka Tandberg. Tsundoa's absence on the centre-left of midfield was felt throughout the rest of the game, with a huge volume of space surrounding Lexi Lloyd-Smith which meant the attacker didn't have the support she needed for the runs down the left. Instead Palace were predictable on favouring the right, leading to Jamie-Lee Napier and Shannon O'Brien suffering under pressure.
The first half was relatively end to end with Palace initially appearing the stronger team on possession, although Spurs were unlucky with shots hitting the side netting, the cross bar and heading over the bar.
The Eagles then failed to turn up after the break, conceding their first goal of the WSL season which clearly threw them. After the score went 1-0 the goals quickly followed as Palace were unable to pull themselves back into the game.
Olivia Holdt scored the first three goals of the half with a hat trick on her first start for Spurs of the season. Spurs were really quick on the counter and overloaded Palace's 10 players throughout the second half.
The Lilywhites had 42 shots, 13 of those on target generating a 4.69xG compared to Palace's 4 shots, with 2 on target and 0.14xG. Their presence in Palace's box was overwhelming with 82 touches compared to Palace's 2 in Spurs's box.
This was completely the gameplay to expect from an experienced WSL side, similar to how Arsenal overloaded Palace last weekend. Why Palace fell victim to Tottenham more than their strong defensive performance to Arsenal was unclear, although the intensity of the League may be getting to the squad.
Bethany England was unlucky not to get more time on the ball against her former side as she was the most promising player of Palace's attack. Yet when gifted a pass she had limited service and was overloaded by Tottenham's defence. Lloyd-Smith also struggled with positioning throughout the second half, favouring hanging back to support the midfield rather than pushing forward to find the end of Palace's chances.
As the goals started to fly in Palace were just unable to take advantages of any break, with a clear difference in playing style between the promoted and the established WSL teams. Palace's passing and receiving of the ball needs to be strengthened, with only 62% accurate passes which gifted Tottenham chances and prevented Palace from forming a strong run.
The main takeaway for Potter should be that Palace really need to match their attack and defence moving forward. While their results against Everton and Arsenal showed a strong and unified defence, this match showed how easy it was to breakdown under pressure and that if Palace are unable to take the chances prevented to them it may be difficult for them to push for three points.
When Palace were reduced to 10 they instantly sat back quite deeply, meaning chances to push the ball forward were limited, preventing them from trying to make a comeback when the score was low.
