Everton boss Brian Sorensen hailed Clare Wheeler's "oustanding" display after the midfielder helped the Blues to a last-gasp victory over Tottenham in the Women's Super League.
Nicoline Sorensen got the hosts off the mark inside four minutes at Walton Hall Park; the winger notching her first goal since returning from a lengthy layoff with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. However, Spurs soon restored parity through Eveliina Summamen's stunning left-footed effort, with the Finn racing onto Bethany England's cut-back and rifling the ball into the bottom corner.
Both Katrine Veje and Gabby George went close in the second half, before a composed finish from Aggie Beever-Jones helped Everton clinch all three points in stoppage time. But it was Wheeler, who was making her fourth consecutive start in the middle of the park, that earned most of the plaudits from the Everton boss.
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"What people don't see is her defensive work," Sorensen told the ECHO after the game. "It's so good. Off the ball, the way she shuts down spaces.
"She's getting better and better on the ball, more comfortable. As a lone number six, it's a big area to control but the last three games, she's been outstanding."
Reflecting on Everton's overall performance, Sorensen added: "I'm really happy with the win. I think we deserved it today. We controlled the game for 90 mins and I don't recall them being really dangerous.
"They had some okay passages of play but they were never getting really dangerous in behind. We had really good control of Bethany England and Mana Iwabuchi, and also when Drew Spence came in. I'm pleased with the result because I think we really earned that today in terms of the performance."
Beever-Jones' strike saw Everton earn their first victory since January, and Sorensen was delighted to see the 19-year-old on the scoresheet.
"She's a wonderful dribbler. She's young, so she will have games up and have games down but today she came in and showed what she's made of," the Everton boss said.
"I actually told her just before we went into stoppage time to start taking chances, start to dribble a bit more, because one thing she needs to work on is being smart and understanding how to deal with the pressure around her and so on.
"But at the end of the day, she also needs to take chances, needs to take risks, so I got that message to her and she started to do that. That was really good."
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