Tottenham Women make history with brilliant comeback to reach FA Cup final – but immediately hit with blow
Tottenham Hotspur Women are history makers as they reached their first ever FA Cup final with a 2-1 comeback win over Leicester.
Spurs needed extra-time to reach the Wembley showpiece and with just two minutes remaining Martha Thomas sent the home fans wild.
The Scottish striker, earlier denied by a finger-tip Lize Kop save in the dying ember of the first 90 minutes, nodded over her Dutch opponent after Spurs' opponents failed to clear their lines.
Tottenham were made to work hard for the win with Leicester fighting all the way in a thrilling FA Cup encounter.
The Foxes took the lead after 12 minutes and it was a stunning strike from Finnish star Jutta Rantala that sealed their progression, a fitting goal for an FA Cup semi-final in Spurs' new arena.
The 24-year-old skipped in off the left flank to slam a left-foot strike beyond Becky Spencer in the Tottenham goal.
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However, Spurs had plenty of possession and after some smart second-half substitutes looked well in control.
With seven minutes to go, a lob over the top of the Leicester defence saw ex-Spurs star Josie Green put on the turn but fail with her attempted clearance.
In swept Naz to race clear and a composed finish was slipped into the far corner past Lize Kop.
Both sides had chances to win but, in the end, Thomas was the player for the moment when she rose highest at the back.
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However, in the other semi-final, Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 - immediately denting Tottenham's hopes of victory on Sunday, May 12.
The Red Devils are England international Grace Clinton's parent club.
Clinton will no doubt feel hard done by given here previous FA Cup heartache.
She was an unused substitute against Man City in a 3-1 defeat for Everton in 2020, while last season she was out on loan as Man United lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
And her current boss Robert Vilahamn told BBC Sport: "I just feel sorry for her. She’s not getting a chance to play at Wembley in a big final. We have a big squad and a lot of good players. We know why she cannot play against them but we have a lot of players who can do that job. It’s mostly [sorry] for her."
After the game the Tottenham boss also joined talkSPORT to discuss his team's incredible feat.
He told the Sunday Session: "I had a good feeling because I thought we had quite a good second half. The players coming in did some good stuff.
"It felt like we were having some good chances and we've come back late in other games as well.
"I had feelings we were going to find ways and we did it."
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"It's a very important step. We have a vision where we want to compete on this stage every year and we need to get used to doing that and we need to learn to play in this big stadium. Today you saw we can handle that and Wembley will have even more fans.
"We can win a title already this year but we want do that next year and the year after that as well. It's a good thing to do something historical."