Spurs women show the men how to do it with 2-0 at Brum

Birmingham City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 By Football Reporter Ashleigh Neville struck the opener as Tottenham Hotspur moved up to third in the FA Women’s Super League thanks to a 2-0 victory over rock-bottom Birmingham City. Spurs leapfrogged Manchester United to go into the Champions League places, while the Blues’ situation became even bleaker as they are now seven points adrift of safety. With Spurs men losing at home 2-0 to Wolves, the women flew the flag for the north Londoners. Birmingham came close to opening the scoring after 14 minutes when Veatriki Sarri was allowed to advance before her low effort from outside the box was pushed around the post by Rebecca Spencer. Spurs captain Shelina Zadorsky had her side’s best chance of a goalless first half when she headed Molly Bartrip’s corner into the side netting. The breakthrough finally arrived for the visitors in the 65th minute with Neville pouncing from close range after Birmingham goalkeeper Emily Ramsey had had to react quickly to keep out Naz’s cross-cum-shot. Spurs were now going in for the kill, with Rachel Williams’ header from Kerys Harrop’s corner being saved by Ramsey before Ria Percival slammed her follow-up against the bar. The lead really should have been doubled when Naz’s cut-back ran through to Neville at the back post, but the goalscorer side-footed wide from six yards out. Harrop, who impressed after coming on at half-time, then had a low effort from 25 yards pushed out by Ramsey before Tottenham finally killed off the contest. Williams couldn’t quite turn in Neville’s cross, but the loose ball ran for Percival, who smuggled the ball into the net, despite looking in an offside position. To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com Birmingham City (4-4-1-1): Emily Ramsey, Jamie Finn, Gemma Lawley, Louise Quinn, Rebecca Holloway, Jade Pennock, Christie Murray, Veatriki Sarri, Lisa Robertson, Lucy Quinn, Libby Smith Substitutes: Sarah Ewens for Lucy Quinn 74, Lucy Whipp for Smith 74, Emily Whelan for Murray 85 Substitutes not used: Lucy Jones, Harriet Scott, Eleanor Ryan-Doyle, Abbi Jenner, Abi Cowie, Louane Worsey Bookings: Robertson 33, Ramsey 85 Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-3): Rebecca Spencer, Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Molly Bartrip, Shelina Zadorsky, Asmita Ale, Maeva Clermaron, Ria Percival, Ashleigh Neville, Kyah Simon, Rachel Williams, Jessica Naz Substitutes: Evalina Summanen for Simon 45, Kerys Harrop for Schnaderbeck 45, Jiali Tang for Percival 86 Substitutes not used: Tinja-Riikka Korpela, Angela Addison, Rosella Ayane, Isabella Lane Scorers: Neville 65, Percival 85 Referee: Emily Heaslip Attendance: 487 Birmingham City interim head coach Darren Carter said: "She looks onside [for Tottenham’s second goal]. "From the angle that I’ve seen – I’m not level, obviously – but from first glance she looks onside and it’s borderline if it is [offside], but I’d be very disappointed if that was given against us. "Obviously, from where Rambo was, and Louise Quinn, they thought that she may have been, but on the contact from the header, she looks onside. "Spurs are a very good side, and you can see that they’ve got very good players and they move the ball quickly, but I thought our shape out of possession was good in the first half. "We looked a threat ourselves on transition and could have potentially created a bit more had our quality been better, on the ball. "Second half, they’ve had to make two changes and switch around tactically, which you always take as a compliment because you’re forcing a team to do something different." Tottenham Hotspur manager Rehanne Skinner said: "We’re in a good place, in terms of confidence and belief, and we believe we will get a goal out of a game. "I think it was just a case of making sure we created more opportunities and had more good possession in the final third that would help us to create those top-quality chances. "Obviously, Ashleigh started us off with that in the second half, so that was good, and it just gave us a platform to build on from that point. "I think Ashleigh is very good at reading when she can intercept passes and when she can get herself involved in the game. "She’s spotted an opportunity and a possibility and gone, ‘I’m in there and I’m going to try and make the most of it.’ "She’s a very good player, she’s been very consistent for us this season, she can go up into higher areas and she’s definitely helped the team."