Janice Cayman joined Leicester from Lyon in the summer and gave the Foxes the lead
Celin Bizet scored a second-half equaliser as Tottenham denied Leicester a huge Women’s Super League win at the King Power Stadium.
Janice Cayman gave the Foxes the lead early on, while Janina Leitzig made a string of saves to thwart the visitors.
Leicester’s point halted their run of three successive defeats, which culminated in a collapse against Arsenal last week.
Spurs had to make do with a third straight 1-1 draw, despite dominating the game.
Leicester started strongly and could have taken the lead through Missy Goodwin after Becky Spencer parried Jutta Rantala’s curling shot, but Ashleigh Neville denied her on the line.
It took over 10 minutes for Tottenham to stem the hosts’ tide. Spurs’ first sight of goal came through Grace Clinton from distance, but it did not test Leitzig.
Leicester took a deserved lead in the 18th minute when Goodwin broke with conviction and fed Cayman, who slotted calmly beyond Spencer from close range.
Martha Thomas forced Leitzig into a smart save from Ria Percival’s cross as Spurs looked for an immediate response, before the German goalkeeper made a superb succession of stops from Jess Naz, Neville and Angharad James.
After the break, Spurs stepped it up and Naz continued causing problems. Leitzig was equal to her deflected effort from the left, before she denied Bizet after good work by Thomas.
The trio linked up again for Spurs’ leveller just before the hour. The move started with Naz, before Bizet latched on to Thomas’ searching pass to poke the ball beyond the unfortunate Leitzig.
Momentum was with the away side, but Leicester captain Sam Tierney crashed a shot off the bar, almost restoring their lead.
Substitute Rosella Ayane twice went close as Spurs looked to complete their turnaround. First, Ayane could not quite connect with Bizet’s cross, before her shot from close range was blocked by Leitzig and Sophie Howard.
Spurs continued to look the most likely but ultimately could not make their possession fully count, and their exasperation was summed up by another Leitzig save, this time from Thomas.
Spurs had 11 attempts on target but scored only once
Tottenham fail to cash in on big chances
In the previous two games, Spurs let the lead slip on the way to dropping points.
While they were behind in this one after an electric Leicester start, there is a similar sense that this was a game for them to win. Not doing so was down to their own poor finishing.
Leitzig deserves huge credit for keeping them at bay, but a number of those chances should have been put away, particularly when Naz failed to score from close range amid those three blocks in succession.
On the balance of play, Spurs would have deserved to win having done well to wrestle control of the game.
But for all of striker Thomas’ impressive build-up play, and crucial role in the equaliser, the fact is she did not get into enough dangerous positions and that may be a concern to manager Robert Vilahamn.
Line-ups
Leicester City Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Leitzig
4Bott14Green5Howard2Nevin
3Tierney8Rantala
20Goodwin11Cayman21Cain
9Petermann
1Leitzig4BottSubstituted forDraperat 88’minutes14Green5Howard2Nevin3Tierney8RantalaSubstituted forPalmerat 73’minutes20GoodwinSubstituted forWhelanat 45’minutes11Cayman21CainSubstituted forBakerat 73’minutes9PetermannSubstitutes6Palmer10Whelan13Robinson19Siemsen23Kop32Baker41Reavill47Sherwood49Draper
Tottenham Women
Formation 4-3-3
22Spencer
15James21Bühler5Bartrip29Neville
12Percival25Summanen8Clinton
14Bizet Ildhusøy17Thomas7Naz
22Spencer15JamesBooked at 74mins21Bühler5Bartrip29Neville12PercivalSubstituted forAleat 59’minutes25Summanen8ClintonSubstituted forBrazilat 72’minutes14Bizet Ildhusøy17Thomas7NazSubstituted forAyaneat 59’minutesSubstitutes1Votíková3Zadorsky4Turner10Brazil13Ale16Graham18Zhang23Ayane26Pearse
Live Text
Match ends, Leicester City Women 1, Tottenham Hotspur Women 1.
Second Half ends, Leicester City Women 1, Tottenham Hotspur Women 1.
Hand ball by Ellie Brazil (Tottenham Hotspur Women).
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur Women. Conceded by Denny Draper.
Attempt blocked. Rosella Ayane (Tottenham Hotspur Women) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Angharad James.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur Women. Conceded by Sophie Howard.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur Women. Conceded by Denny Draper.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur Women. Conceded by Janina Leitzig.
Attempt saved. Martha Thomas (Tottenham Hotspur Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Asmita Ale.
Attempt blocked. Ellie Brazil (Tottenham Hotspur Women) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Celin Bizet Ildhusøy (Tottenham Hotspur Women) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Asmita Ale.
Substitution, Leicester City Women. Denny Draper replaces Catherine Bott.
Foul by Ellie Brazil (Tottenham Hotspur Women).
Josie Green (Leicester City Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur Women. Conceded by Courtney Nevin.
Celin Bizet Ildhusøy (Tottenham Hotspur Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Josie Green (Leicester City Women).
Attempt missed. Ellie Brazil (Tottenham Hotspur Women) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Ashleigh Neville.
Rosella Ayane (Tottenham Hotspur Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Catherine Bott (Leicester City Women).
