Bethany England pleased to score her first WSL goal of the campaign
Mon 25 March 2024, 13:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Bethany England got off the mark in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season after her goal was enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Bristol City on Sunday afternoon.
Our captain, who missed the first two months of the season after she recovered from a surgical procedure on her hip and didn’t feature until December, had netted three goals in this campaign – those coming in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup – but she opened her account in the league with an important strike to claim the three points.
Robert Vilahamn welcomed back Bethany England into his starting XI, replacing Matilda Vinberg, and the 29-year-old got off to the perfect start as she scored inside the opening two minutes, latching on Grace Clinton’s lovely pass before firing low past Fran Bentley at the near post.
That winner over the Robins was also her 70th in the WSL, becoming only the second player to have reached that mark and is just nine goals behind Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema in the league's all-time goalscorer charts.
Welcome to the 70 Club, @Bethany_Eng15 👋
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 24, 2024
The @SpursWomen captain becomes just the SECOND EVER player to reach 70 goals in the #BarclaysWSL after Vivianne Miedema! 🤯#WhereGreatnessLives pic.twitter.com/OVryCHrx3t
Reflecting on scoring her first league goal of the campaign, Bethany said: “I know it has been a slow start for me to try and get that first league goal, but I’m glad I can now dust that off and, hopefully, there's plenty more to come.
“To hit 70 goals is also a big moment for me, I’m really proud of that and I want to say thanks to everyone around me that have helped me get that far.”
After netting the opener in the second minute for a second consecutive game, we had a handful of opportunities to further extend our advantage at Ashton Gate throughout the game.
Celin Bizet and Jessica Naz both went close in the first half before Drew Spence saw a powerful effort tipped over the bar by Fran Bentley followed by Shuang Wang and Matilda Vinberg being denied by the woodwork, and Bethany acknowledged we need to be more clinical in the final third.
The England international added: “It’s the second week in a row that we have managed to get an early start, however I do feel we can score more chances but I’m so proud of the team.
“We are showing as a team, week in, week out that we are building our resilience and, even though we are turning the match into a transitional game at times, we are holding our lead and keeping the three points.
“We have started to look at lot more dangerous on the counter but, again, we need to finish our chances. However, we are looking more fluid going forward and creating really good opportunities, it’s just the final product.”
