Rehanne Skinner was left to rue a number of missed opportunities for Tottenham Hotspur after watching her team slip to a crushing 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.
Goals from Vilde Bøe Risa, Hayley Ladd and Leah Galton ensured a comfortable afternoon for the United at Leigh Sports Village as they opened up a three-point gap over top-three rivals Spurs.
But Jessica Naz had a chance to put the visitors ahead before United scored the opener while Rachel Williams also had two glorious opportunities that she was unable to convert.
And Skinner believes on another day the result could have been completely different.
Skinner said: “We absorbed a lot of pressure early on, and I feel we did a pretty good job of holding United until the first goal. There wasn’t a lot of saves made in that first half.
“We were much better in the second half – I am proud of our approach in the last 20 minutes as we’ve had to rely on the same players for the last few games.
“We had a great chance to go 1-0 up and didn’t take it, which cost us. Rachel Williams had two great chances – on another day they go in and the result might be different.”
Spurs’ best chance came in the second half when top scorer Williams headed wide from a deep cross as they missed the chance to move above their opponents into a European place.
Both sides came into the game with identical records, although third-placed United sat just above their opponents in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table on goal difference.
The hosts had never lost a league game to the London club – winning six and drawing one - and they started quickly, with plenty of attacking intent and the first shot on target from Galton.
United hit the front when Bøe Risa turned in a Katie Zelem corner on 38 minutes, before Ladd headed in an Ella Toone cross four minutes later to leave Spurs with a mountain to climb.
On 62 minutes, United confirmed the three points when Galton pounced on a mistake from Ashleigh Neville in the area to tap home and extend their winning streak to six.
But while the defeat was a setback for Tottenham, who had not lost a game in any competition since November last year, Skinner expects her team to respond quickly.
“The squad is very resilient – they are always keen to learn,” she added.
“So, I’m not worried about them bouncing back. Like we did last time round, we played extremely well after the defeat to West Ham, and I have no doubt we will do the same again.”
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