Chelsea earn comfortable win against Spurs
Catarina Macario's first-half penalty was enough to earn Chelsea victory against Tottenham Hotpsur and put the newly crowned Women's Super League champions on the brink of an unbeaten top-flight season.
Sonia Bompastor made nine changes to the Chelsea side that beat Manchester United on Wednesday to secure a sixth straight WSL title, and that showed as the visitors lacked intensity and fluidity in the first half.
Robert Vilahamn's Tottenham repeatedly found space in behind a makeshift Chelsea backline that included wingers Ashley Lawrence and Guro Reiten at full-back and midfielder Sjoeke Nusken at centre-back.
The movement of Spurs captain Bethany England in particular caused issues - on several occasions the former Chelsea striker dropped deep to link up play and spread the ball to wide areas.
But Chelsea grew into the game as the half progressed and capitalised on their first real moment of quality.
Macario showed quick feet to side-step Molly Bartrip just inside the penalty area before she was sandwiched by the Spurs defender and Ashleigh Neville.
The United States attacker sent Lize Kop the wrong way from the spot to break the deadlock, though Spurs should have drawn level soon after.
A lapse in concentration from Lawrence allowed Charli Grant to jump the Chelsea offside trap, but the Australia midfielder fired straight at Hannah Hampton when bearing down on goal.
Chelsea looked more energised after the break, though Eveliina Summanen - back in the Spurs line-up following suspension - had Chelsea hearts in mouths with a free-kick that had Hampton scrambling as it flew narrowly wide of the post.
Maika Hamano forced Kop into a fine fingertip save with a long-range strike, before the Japan forward spooned an effort over the crossbar after being played in by Macario.
Kop produced a fine double stop late on to first deny Lawrence, then Nusken on the rebound.
Bompastor introduced regulars Nathalie Bjorn, Naomi Girma and Wieke Kaptein as Chelsea came away a one-goal winning margin for the ninth time this season.
If they avoid defeat against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Chelsea will become the first team to go unbeaten in a 22-game WSL campaign.
Tottenham have now gone nine games without a win and are on track to finish 10th, their lowest WSL finish.
'We want to stay unbeaten'
Sonia Bompastor remains undefeated in her debut WSL campaign
Though Chelsea were far from their fluid best at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, few teams could make nine changes and still earn a relatively comfortable victory.
Rotation allowed Bompastor to rest several key players after what has been a physically and emotionally draining few weeks - Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright did not even make the matchday squad.
With Champions League humiliation somewhat offset by clinching the WSL title in midweek, Chelsea's focus has shifted to securing a domestic treble by beating Manchester United in the FA Women's Cup final later this month.
Hamano and Macario certainly made their cases to start at Wembley on 18 May, the latter especially if first-choice striker Mayra Ramirez does not recover from the injury that kept her out on Sunday.
Mia Fishel lasting 56 minutes on her first start in 15 months following an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) was another positive, as was a WSL debut from the bench for 17-year-old academy starlet Lola Brown.
"When you want to be a competitor you have to have this mentality to keep going," Chelsea manager Bompastor told BBC Sport.
"We want to stay unbeaten. We wanted to come here and make a good performance, to win and get the three points. When you are a competitor you want to win every single game.
"I am proud of them [the players], we rotated the squad a lot, we gave the opportunity to some other players to perform and show themselves for the FA Cup final."
As they have done on several occasions this season, Chelsea got the job done. History beckons.
Limited positives for Spurs
It felt like the odds were always stacked against Tottenham, who had lost all 10 of their previous WSL meetings with Chelsea.
During his Friday press conference manager Vilahamn spoke of his disappointment at how the season has gone, admitting that they only have themselves to blame.
Despite facing a patchwork Chelsea defence, poor finishing and decision-making inside the penalty area once again cost Spurs.
The hosts' only shot on target came from Grant, who had plenty of time to pick her spot but shot straight at Hampton.
Positives can be taken from some of their build-up play, but ultimately Spurs idd not make their first-half dominance count.
With five wins from 21 games, it has been a season to forget.
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