Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City: Caroline Weir provides only goal of the game

Caroline Weir’s scrappy goal was enough to give Manchester City a crucial 1-0 victory over European rivals Tottenham on a boggy pitch at The Hive stadium.

Weir is renowned for spectacular finishes but she knew little about this goal, her fifth in four games, with the ball hitting the midfielder and bouncing into the net after Molly Bartrip failed to clear.

But it could prove to be a vital one in the battle for third place. City are now just two points behind Spurs and will go above them if they win their game in-hand against Reading on Thursday.  

Tottenham beat Manchester City 1-0 in their Women’s Super League clash on Sunday

It is looking more and more likely that the final Champions League spot will come down to a battle between the two Manchester clubs. United are third and five points clear of City but have also played a game more.

‘It was an important win against an opponent in and around us,’ said City boss Gareth Taylor. 

‘We assessed the pitch and the vibe back wasn’t great. We knew that we like to try to play on the ground but it made it difficult so we spoke about winning ugly and I think that was pretty ugly.

‘Even the goal was a little bit scruffy in the final action and we managed to get it over the line. It’s really pleasing, especially going into this period of games now, on the back of a bit of success last week, I think it was really important to get the win, however it came.’

City dominated possession in the first half but the conditions made it difficult for them to play their free-flowing football and they failed to have a shot on target. Spurs managed one from Kyah Simon, which was easily saved by Ellie Roebuck. There were in fact more stoppages for injuries than chances in the first half, with Simon suffering a dislocated finger, which forced her off just past the half hour mark. The hosts then lost Rachel Williams at half-time while City were forced to withdraw Demi Stokes.

Weir was inches away from giving the visitors the lead at the start of the second half when her free-kick struck the post before Hayley Raso then had an effort well saved by Spurs goalkeeper Becky Spencer.

But the deadlock was finally broken in the 64th minute. Lucy Bronze drove down the right before playing in Raso, whose cross into the box was eventually bundled home at the back-post by Weir.

It was a nip-and-tuck game on a boggy pitch but Manchester City ground out a crucial victory

There was plenty of room for improvement for Tottenham boss Rehanne Skinner afterwards

Spurs never really looked like finding an equaliser while City seemed content with protecting what they had and in the end, Weir’s scrappy finish was enough to secure all three points.

A more concerning moment was the head injury suffered by Roebuck in the 70th minute after being clattered by Ashleigh Neville. 

The goalkeeper played on for 17 minutes before being substituted after suffering from clouded vision. 

‘She had a couple of contacts, she took one in training yesterday in a clash with Bunny Shaw.’ Taylor said. 

‘We needed to make sure that she was safe in that respect. She had a little bit of clouded vision in her right eye so we couldn’t take the risk.

‘Our doctors and medics will make sure that she’s checked over properly. I think when you have that you never know if it’s concussion or not so why take the risk? We just had to take her off.’