Crystal Palace women were beaten 0:7 by Tottenham Hotspur women in the Women's Super League, a result that felt inevitable from the opening exchanges. The visitors took all three points in Regular Season round three at Selhurst Park on Wednesday. Palace had looked solid enough in recent weeks, drawing with Arsenal and beating Everton, but neither performance prepared anyone for what followed.
And here's the thing — the match was effectively over by the seventh minute when F. Tsunoda was shown a red card. Palace were already struggling to contain Tottenham's movement, and suddenly they were down to ten players. The visitors have always had quality in midfield, and by then they should have too much for them. Palace dug in for a while, but the numerical disadvantage meant they could only delay the inevitable.
O. Holdt ended a barren spell with a hat-trick that made the scoreline look even more generous than it was. She opened the scoring in the 49th minute, added another in the 61st, and completed her treble in the 73rd before being substituted herself. V. Pelova scored twice — in the 76th and 90th minutes — while S. Martinez and A. Nilden also found the net. Tottenham ran the show in every sense, with Palace's goalkeeper making six saves from twelve shots on target, which is not a great ratio to have.
The statistics told the full story. Tottenham had 71% possession and completed 525 successful passes compared to Palace's 155. They created eight big chances to zero, attempted 37 crosses with eleven successful, and made 276 passes into the final third. Palace managed only four key passes and zero big chances. To be fair, Palace did make 21 tackles, but that was just damage limitation when everything else had gone wrong.
We had predicted a Tottenham victory with 88% confidence, and the result confirmed that assessment. The visitors fancy their chances in this league, and Palace's defensive structure had nothing to do all evening. The red card was the catalyst, but even without it the gulf in quality was apparent. Tottenham kept their heads throughout, and Palace simply could not find a way back into a game they had never really been part of.
The result moves Tottenham to the top of the table on goal difference, with both sides still on five points after three matches. Palace remain sixth, having lost their unbeaten run in the most dramatic fashion possible. This was not a match that could have gone either way — it was a statement from the visitors and a warning to everyone else in the division.
