Beth England gives Tottenham vital win against Leicester in WSL

It was less a new-manager bounce and more a new-manager whimper, but Beth England’s stunning second-half goal earned Tottenham a critical three points in a scrappy contest with Leicester City, last in the WSL.

Spurs’ first league win since 30 October has lifted them five points clear of Leicester, with Reading and Brighton in between.

Willie Kirk had described the trip to Tottenham as the “biggest game of the season”, with Leicester having earned seven points in their last five games to claw themselves closer to safety.

That Tottenham’s manager Rehanne Skinner was sacked before this fixture, following nine successive league defeats, spoke to the heightened fear that Leicester might escape the drop. With three-quarters of the season gone, dispatching a well-liked manager is a risk, but with the Spurs players looking rudderless it made sense too. It means that assistant manager Vicky Jepson has the unenviable task of trying to provide enough direction to avoid relegation and, although she now has a first win under her belt, there was significant room for improvement.

Looking at the dugouts in this key game you could be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja vu. Kirk’s first game in charge of her former club Everton was played against Jepson’s Liverpool. Then, derby bragging rights were at stake. This time though, with WSL survival on the line, the stakes were arguably higher.

Kirk had said he wanted his players “to be brave from the first minute” and while the opening period was cagey from both sides, Leicester provided moments of positive play. Within minutes Leicester’s Kerys Harrop sent a weak header into the arms of Tinja-Riikka Korpela, while Drew Spence and Ash Neville both conceded fouls in dangerous areas which the