Tottenham Hotspur did almost everything right in the opening 45 minutes – except score. Spurs tore into Chelsea with pace, intent and confidence, dominating the shot count and striking the crossbar, but football’s oldest lesson came back to haunt them. Champions do not need many chances; they only need one. Against the run of play, Chelsea found theirs through a moment of Keira Walsh's brilliance, turning a half owned by Spurs into a game firmly under the control of the defending champions and exposing the acceptable margins between contenders and winners in the WSL.
MATCH ACTON
After half an hour, Tottenham had 11 shots to Chelsea's three and hit the crossbar with a fizzing strike from Holdt.
January signing Signe Gaupset continued to show her quality, and fellow new addition Julie Blakstad was a threat down Tottenham's left side.
With just over five minutes left in the first half, it looked like the Spurs would score, given the opportunities a poor, slow Chelsea back line had gifted them. But Chelsea, as champions, scored. The difference between champions and finalists is that champions might not have many opportunities, but capitalise on the ones they do have.
Finalists have many chances, but don't get it in the back of the net. Keira Walsh only scores worldies. Right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the left corner following a corner to put Chelsea ahead before the break. This was very much against the run of play in the first half. This season, teams have left Walsh unmarked on the edge of the penalty area to create more shots on target.
Typically understated and calm in the dugout, Bompastor showed a different side of herself when Walsh scored. She was picked up by a member of her staff and spun around in celebration. At the same time, her players embraced the goalscorer.
This put them in control and gave them a cushion in the game, something they've not had since their 5-0 win against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
They were the better side for the majority of the first half and hit the crossbar through Olivia Holdt.
With the DJ playing a remix of Madonna's song "Vogue" as the players left the pitch at half-time, Spurs needed a lifter after getting no reward for their efforts up to that point.
Within minutes, it was clear that Chelsea were back on the front foot. Hanna Wijk's lack of concentration allowed Nusken to sneak in behind the Tottenham defence, but her chance was saved. Lize Kop saved a right-footed shot from the centre of the box; however, she was unable to contain the rebound, which Alyssa Thompson scored on.
The right-footed shop formed the centre of the box, the top-left corner. Thompson has proven herself as a key player for Chelsea since her move. She is only one of two summer signings who play week in, week out for Chelsea. Thompson is the top league goalscorer for Chelsea this season.
She has become a lifeline for this Chelsea side with six goals in her debut season at such a young age.
Chelsea continued to have more of the love in the second half with multiple attempts, and the Spurs keeper had to make some crucial saves from the likes of Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Sandy Baltimore, and Naomi Girma.
The only concerning thing to come from this game was the 80th minute after a foul by Cathinka Tandberg, who struck Millie Bright’s shin, and was subbed off two minutes later in some discomfort.
Chelsea had a good opportunity in the last minute of the game when Rytting Kaneryd got past her defender and attempted to go across the keeper into the far corner, but Kope came out to get the ball.
The second was a severe blow to Spurs, who had exceeded all expectations this season, were just a point behind Chelsea before kick-off, and had the most chances in the first half.
The costly defeat harms Tottenham's chances of gatecrashing the WSL's traditional top four and sneaking into a European qualification spot.
ANALYSIS
Spurs have been so entertaining this season that even legendary American singer Madonna was in the stands to watch, a day after two of her daughters played for Spurs in an under-14s match.
For the first time, Sonia Bompastor has changed her tactics after coming under heavy scrutiny. In the 2-0 loss to Arsenal and the 5-1 loss to Manchester City, they played in a back three. This meant she could commit the likes of Sandy Baltimore and Ellie Carpenter on the wings further up the pitch. Th, however, left gaps in midfield and the defence; see which gaps to capitalise on. In this game, it was a little touching going for a back four; however, Spurs were able to win loose balls in the midfield, capitalise on a defensive sense, and go through onto the first, especially the first, where they had the joy in the open area box. Chelsea's passing in the midfield was sloppy, and they were giving the ball away too easily.
Given the external noise about the defending champions dropping points in back-to-back games for the first time in 11 years, this game added pressure on the Blues. This was also the first time the manager had lost back-to-back games in her managerial career, spanning over 180 games across multiple tournaments. For the manager, even with her contract extended to 2030, she needed a solid performance today to convince the fans that she is the right manager for the job.
This comes after she spoke about her future at the club last weekend away at City. But the club sees her as a long-term investment. Remember, Emma Hayes was at the club for 12 years; the women's sides don't shop around or swap managers. This contract extension was already agreed upon before the significant dip in performance. Still, the timing of the news felt deliberate and was likely intended to quiet the noise.
Chelsea bounced back and demonstrated their ruthless streak. It felt like the old Chelsea was back, the one we all saw win the domestic treble last season. Chelsea needs to produce the goods at Spurs and maintain its winning position if it hopes to secure Champions League qualification.
Sjoeke Nusken has been in the headlines in the last few weeks for reportedly being unhappy with her minutes this season and possibly looking to leave in the summer. The manager gave her what she wanted and deserved, and she earned WSL player of the match.
Their first-half performance likely concerned Blues fans, who saw how easily Spurs created chances and were unable to silence the home side.
But things changed when Walsh struck the ball into the back of the net. In the second half, the game went full guns blazing.
Even with a win under their belt, this match did little to ease concerns that they are falling behind their rivals this season.
Bompastor stressed that a key part of their regression has been a lack of squad depth, caused by injuries, as shown at Spurs when teenagers Lexi Potter and Chloe Sarwie came off the bench, while captain Millie Bright hobbled off late on with a foot issue.
There is still work to do to ensure they finish in the top three with Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal not leaving any room for error - and they need players back to full fitness quickly if Chelsea hope to progress in Europe.
Quotes
The club rallied around the Frenchwomen, the backing she needed to breathe a sigh of relief, and even celebrated animatedly on the sidelines.
"Even if we all know we can't control anything of that, we probably felt it was unfair to receive that amount of criticism," said Bompastor.
"I know who I am; I don't need people outside my environment to tell me who I am. I will always make sure I give my best. I know I have the competence, I know I have the knowledge, I know the women's game, and I do my best for Chelsea.
"I'm not saying I'm the best one, I'm not saying I'm arrogant, but I know who I am. I always make sure I support my players in the best way possible.
"My job is to make sure they go on the pitch with clarity on what they need to achieve. No one is going to disturb my confidence."
"When you want to perform at your best, you need to have the four elements of the performance aligned at the highest level - the tactical, mental, physical and technical aspects," said Bompastor.
"If one of them, or some of them, is not as high as possible, it affects the performance. We were a different team in the second half. That's who we want to be."
Bompastor's actions were deliberate on Sunday. After the warm-up, she walked out onto the pitch and high-fived every member of her squad.
She celebrated with assistant coach Meline Gerard, who lifted her and spun her around in the dugout, when Walsh's goal put Chelsea 1-0 up - something she rarely does, but said afterwards she should do more.
In normal circumstances, a victory at Tottenham would be seen as par for the course. But these were three points which gave Chelsea a significant boost.
"I will enjoy it. I'm not going to lie, it's been a difficult time. It's been tough, so we need to celebrate with players and staff," said Bompastor.
"We know when we are at Chelsea, we need to win every game, and we want, as much as possible, to be in control. To do that, we need to get points to win.
"We still have a lot to play for. We know what we can improve."
But experienced midfielder Erin Cuthbert said the overall feeling was "relief" after the Spurs victory - and this was unknown territory for the serial winners.
"It's been a tough couple of weeks, an experience that some of us haven't been used to. Over the 10 years I've been here, we've had moments like this," Cuthbert told BBC Two.
"The league's getting better, and we've played against two top teams who probably beat us quite convincingly. It was back to the drawing board this week.
"We didn't want to be a Chelsea team that bowed down game after game. That's not what we're about, that's not what we're built upon.
"It was a difficult first 20 minutes. We got quite lucky, to be honest. But you're going to need a bit of luck to get out of a hole."
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