Ashleigh Neville shines in Tottenham Women defeat v Man City Women
Ashleigh Neville can hold her head high despite Tottenham Women’s defeat against Manchester City Women on Sunday.
Robert Vilahamn’s side have now lost five of their last six matches in all competitions after the 2-1 Barclays Women’s Super League defeat to City at Brisbane Road on 2 March.
The North London side have slipped to seventh place in the WSL as a result. However, Vilahamn will be much more pleased by his side’s performance after the 5-0 defeat to Arsenal Women at the Emirates on Sunday, 16 February.
Spurs were competitive for a long time, and it took until the 78th minute for City to win the match. Therefore, Vilahamn’s side can take a lot of confidence from this performance heading into a more favourable run of fixtures, and Neville in particular will be delighted with her display despite defeat.
Neville shines for Tottenham Women v Man City Women
After shipping five against their North London rivals, Spurs put in a much improved defensive display against City, and Neville’s performance was a big part of that improvement.
As per Sofascore, the defender made six clearances and six tackles, with one of those clearances coming off the line. In addition, she made three interceptions and blocked two shots, while only being dribbled past once.
| Barclays Women’s Super League | Position | Points |
| Manchester City Women | 4th | 31 |
| Brighton Women | 5th | 19 |
| Liverpool Women | 6th | 18 |
| Tottenham Women | 7th | 17 |
The 31-year-old also won seven of her nine ground duels and 100 per cent of her aerial duels. There was some room for improvement on the ball, as she completed just 64 per cent of her passes, with only one of those key, and also failed with her one dribble attempt.
However, defensively she was near flawless and was unlucky to find herself on the losing side, and Vilahamn will no doubt be delighted with the display.
Tottenham can take confidence from defeat against City
Manchester City are one of the top sides in the WSL. Therefore, there is no shame in losing to them, especially not in the manner which Tottenham did.
Spurs’ last three WSL matches have come against Manchester United Women, Arsenal and City. However, in the coming weeks, they face the likes of Brighton Women, West Ham Women and Leicester City Women.
As a result, they will be much more optimistic of picking up points, and should take a lot of confidence from their performance against City, with players such as Neville and Lize Kop set to play a big part in the final weeks of the season.