WOMEN'S TEAM

Dominant Blues Win In London

Everton finished the first half of their Barclays Women's Super League campaign in style with a comprehensive 3-0 over Tottenham Hotspur in London.

Despite the sub-zero temperatures at Brisbane Road, the travelling Blues produced a stellar performance as Katja Snoeijs and Gio secured their first goals in the English top-flight. Jess Park also netting her fourth goal in an Everton shirt in another impressive display from the youngster.

Brian Sorensen's side set their stall out early in the game and their aggressive press from the outset made it extremely difficult for the hosts to sustain a significant spell of possession.

When the ball was won, Everton were slick and polished with their passing, and it was a neat piece of play that led to the game’s opening goal.   

Hanna Bennison released Nico Sorensen down the right, she delivered a fabulous low cross that was superbly guided home by Snoeijs to put the Blues ahead inside eight minutes.

Buoyed by taking the lead, Everton continued to enjoy the better of the opening exchanges and looked the more likely to find the next goal.

But despite Everton’s comfort, Spurs showed they still had the potential to threaten the Toffees’ defence when Ashleigh Neville broke free down the left and whipped a good ball into the box where Drew Spence rose highest to head an effort towards goal but straight into the hands of Emily Ramsey.  

That warning looked to spur the visitors on even more and Everton’s unrelenting pressure on the Tottenham backline forced a mistake from goalkeeper Becky Spencer which nearly led to a second.   

The shot-stopper cleared the ball straight to Bennison deep in the Tottenham half, she fed Sorensen who teed up Lucy Graham to strike a shot from distance that flew just wide of the post.

There was a second mistake from Spencer just minutes later, and this time it was punished.   

The goalkeeper hesitated to clear the ball long which allowed Park to swiftly pounce in the penalty area and intercept before poking the ball into the back of the net to double Everton’s lead.   

Gabby George wasn’t too far away from adding goal number three soon after when she cut in and struck a low shot from distance towards the bottom corner that was well-saved.   

Spurs tried to rally and created a couple of half chances in the dying moments of the half but Ramsey rarely looked troubled.   

The hosts continued from where they left off at the beginning of the second half and started pushing bodies forward in the pursuit of finding a route back into the game.   

They found, however, an impenetrable Everton defence who dealt well with whatever the home side had to offer.   

On the hour mark, Aggie Beever-Jones joined the action, replacing Snoeijs.   

Everton had their first real chance of note in the second half with 15 minutes to go when Sorensen delivered a good ball from a free-kick into the penalty area, substitute Beever-Jones connected with a header, but Spencer dropped low to deny the Blues forward.  

Gio and then Izzy Christiansen joined the fray in place of Sorensen and Bennison as the game edged towards its conclusion.  

In the 90th minute, quick feet from the substitute Gio drew a reckless challenge from Neville which resulted in a straight red.   

The Blues took advantage of their numerical advantage with seconds remaining when Gio capped off a solid cameo display by smashing home a half-volley to complete a fine night for the Blues.

Thanks to the win, the Blues now head into the Christmas break sixth in the WSL table after leapfrogging their hosts and Aston Villa. 

One final game remains in 2022 for the Toffees as they face Durham on Saturday in the Continental League Cup.