Tottenham Hotspur cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 5-0 victory over London City Lionesses on Sunday afternoon.
After a first half of the season defined by flaccid final third displays, the impact of new signings Bethany England and Mana Iwabuchi was telling as the 5-0 scoreline represented Spurs' second-highest win of the season, only behind the 8-0 rout of WSL side Brighton and Hove Albion.
Spurs finished the match with 11 attempts on goal and six on target, the type of clinical performance that has frustratingly evaded manager Rehanne Skinner this season.
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Despite a bright half from the Championship leaders and two unsuccessful penalty appeals, London City were unable to convert and were punished for their profligacy against their WSL opponents, whose class eventually told.
England could have fired her side into the lead as early as the sixth minute after turning Amy Rodgers inside out after latching onto a ball over the top but the former Chelsea striker dragged her effort wide left.
Five minutes later, however, England made sure to atone for the uncharacteristic miss by heading home at the back post from Rosella Ayane's well-worked cross on the left.
The early deficit did little to cow London City, who continued to push forward and pile pressure onto the home side to some effect. But Tottenham's dogged defence was rewarded as Mana Iwabuchi added to the arrears right on the stroke of half-time with a fortunately deflected strike just inside the area. The goal marked the Japanese international's first goal since arriving on loan from Arsenal.
The gulf in quality displayed by Spurs' two January signings became all the more clear in the second half as England and Iwabuchi continued to dictate proceedings for the home side, the latter in particular showing the team's controlled play in midfield.
It took less than three minutes after the half-time whistle for Spurs to extend their lead as England's cross from the left was met by half-time substitute Eveliina Summanen, whose volley was parried by keeper Shae Yanez but Drew Spence was there to meet it.
Once again London City were left feeling frustrated after a third penalty appeal fell on deaf ears, and soon the defining theme of the match became Spurs' dominance. While London City demonstrated bright moments, the earlier threatening flashes began to ebb.
And any simmering hope the visitors still nurtured was staunched by the 65th minute mark after poor marking from Harley Sophie Bennett resulted in an own goal to see Spurs go four goals clear.
Skinner took the opportunity to empty her bench, but the quality on offer in comparison to that of the visitors made another Spurs goal feel inevitable. Substitute Nikola Karczewska almost roared in a fifth but her shot flew just wide of Yanez's near post. But Summanen made no mistake on her second attempt at goal as Spurs consigned more misery to the visitors with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The positive result is their second in seven matches, in which Spurs have suffered a five successive WSL losses. Spurs face a daunting runs in the WSL next as they face successive clashes against title chasers Chelsea and Manchester United before the international break.
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