Godfrey scores twice as London City defeat Tottenham

Newly promoted London City Lionesses have now won four of their eight WSL games

Freya Godfrey scored twice as London City Lionesses defeated high-flying Tottenham in an entertaining contest at Hayes Lane to secure their fourth win of the Women's Super League season.

Spurs twice fought back to draw level with the promoted side but Amanda Nilden's own goal in the 81st minute and Godfrey's second three minutes later - to add to her opener and an assist - sealed the win for Jocelyn Precheur's side.

The result sent London City into the top half of the table with 12 points from eight games while Spurs are three points ahead in fifth place.

The hosts had made a dream start as captain Kosovare Asllani's corner towards the near post was kept in play by Wassa Sangare and crossed back into the middle for Godfrey to score her first goal for the club only eights minutes in.

Spurs probed for an equaliser but did not register a shot on target before London City midfielder Saki Kumagai recklessly slid in to bring down Drew Spence inside the box.

Cathinka Tandberg stepped up to take the resulting penalty and smashed her effort down the middle for her fourth goal of the WSL season.

However, London City regained their lead through Nikita Parris in the 50th minute as they broke forward at pace through Asllani and Godfrey before the latter's cross was met with a well-timed run and finish from the 31-year-old England forward on her 200th WSL appearance.

Asllani's foul on Matilda Vinberg at the edge of the box then gave Spurs another lifeline as Eveliina Summanen, wearing the captain's armband for the day, curled her free-kick past diving London City goalkeeper Elene Lete to restore parity.

However, Nilden then put the ball in her own net before her day went from bad to worse as Godfrey breezed past the Swedish defender to score her second from the edge of the box.

London City analysis: Hosts earn a statement win

Tottenham emerged as 5-0 winners when these sides last met in a competitive fixture, in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 2023.

But two years on London City are an altogether different outfit and have already shown they can compete with the big names in their debut WSL season.

They produced a rugged display against Chelsea last weekend and matched the reigning champions with three shots on target - albeit they lost 2-0.

And they built on that performance here, stunning in-form Tottenham with an early opener from 20-year-old Arsenal academy graduate Godfrey and showing plenty of character after Spurs levelled twice.

Their counter-attacking style proved dangerous without the end product at Stamford Bridge but it worked to a tee on Sunday as Parris finished off a quick break that also involved Asllani and Godfrey to make it 2-1.

It was a special occasion for former Manchester City and Manchester United forward Parris, who had also scored in her 50th and 100th WSL appearances, but Spurs threatened to spoil the party with Summanen's equaliser.

However, Sangare headed Asllani's free-kick into the path of Spurs defender Nilden to force an own goal before Godfrey, part of the England Under-23 set-up, grabbed the headlines with her second moments later.

With their four defeats so far coming against last season's top four of Chelsea, Arsenal, United and City, London City boss Precheur will be confident his side can keep their good run going against Aston Villa in their next game.

Tottenham analysis: Spurs must regroup for derby

Under manager Martin Ho, Tottenham have made their best ever start to a WSL season and despite their defeat by London City remain fifth with 15 points from eight games.

That is a significant uptick for the north London club who finished second-from-bottom last season with only 20 points.

And despite the result, they will still have positives to take from a game in which the momentum swung rapidly.

In fact, Tottenham finished the game with 14 shots - three more than their opponents - and generated an expected goals (xG) of 1.65 - also more than London City's 1.47.

But just when they looked ready to capitalise on Summanen's free-kick, they cruelly went behind again through Nilden's own goal and failed to recover.

The defeat means Tottenham will go into next week's north London derby level on points with European champions Arsenal and Ho will want to quickly move past this setback and refocus on the bigger picture - a strong start to the season and a chance to make a statement against the Gunners.

What's next for these teams?

Up next for London City Lionesses in the Women's Super League is a game at Villa Park where they will meet Aston Villa on Sunday, 16 November (12:00 GMT).

Meanwhile, a north London derby awaits Tottenham as they host Arsenal at Brisbane Road on Sunday, 16 November (14:30 GMT).

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