Alexia Putellas and Kadidiatou Diani scored twice each as London City Lionesses swept aside Tottenham 6-1, ending their opponents’ unbeaten start to the Women’s Super League season.
Danielle van de Donk and substitute Delphine Cascarino also found the net in an emphatic victory at BetWright Stadium, strengthening London City’s credentials as potential title contenders.
Putellas needed just three minutes to put the visitors ahead.
After Lize Kop parried Grace Geyoro’s effort, the Spanish midfielder reacted quickly to fire home the rebound with her left foot.
The two-time Ballon d’Or winner, who joined from Barcelona in the summer, had opened her WSL account against Brighton the previous weekend.
Diani doubled the advantage in the 22nd minute, finishing a flowing move involving Freya Godfrey and Lucia Corrales to register her first league goal for the club.
Putellas added her second 12 minutes later, driving the ball into the roof of the net after Van de Donk reached the byline and delivered an excellent cutback.
Tottenham almost reduced the deficit before half-time when Julie Blakstad struck a powerful free-kick from 25 yards.
Elene Lete produced a superb save, tipping the ball onto the crossbar to preserve London City’s three-goal lead.
Van de Donk added a deserved goal seven minutes after the restart, meeting Diani’s low delivery from the right and finishing at the near post.
Spurs responded immediately through Victoria Pelova.
The summer arrival from Arsenal controlled Blakstad’s cross and finished confidently for her fifth WSL goal of the campaign.
Any hopes of a comeback quickly disappeared, however, when Diani blocked Kop’s attempted clearance and walked the loose ball into the empty net.
Cascarino completed the rout in stoppage time with an impressive solo effort, driving at Tottenham’s defence and using a stepover to create space before beating Kop.
London City strengthen title ambitions
Tottenham entered the match with three wins and a draw from their opening four league fixtures.
Victory would have sent them top, at least until Manchester City’s meeting with Arsenal later in the day.
Instead, London City delivered a commanding performance that underlined the impact of their substantial summer recruitment.
After finishing sixth last season, the Lionesses brought in Putellas and Mapi Leon from Barcelona, alongside Diani from Lyon.
Their fourth win in five league games provided further evidence of their progress under Eder Maestre.
The head coach felt the scale of the victory could help establish his side as serious challengers, while stressing that they must remain grounded against clubs accustomed to competing at the top.
Maestre also highlighted the importance of developing understanding within his squad, explaining that building a cohesive team takes time despite the quality of the players available.
London City now face a two-week pause for the international break and will aim to carry their strong form into the next round of fixtures.
Ho takes responsibility for Spurs setback
For Tottenham, the defeat brought an abrupt end to an encouraging start to the season.
Head coach Martin Ho criticised his side’s defensive work, their failure to compete for loose balls and their lack of confidence in possession.
He accepted responsibility for the performance and said the whole team needed to acknowledge its shortcomings before moving forward.
Having conceded six times, Spurs were left with a painful reminder of the standards required against the league’s strongest attacking sides.
