Tottenham thrash 10-player Crystal Palace 7-0 as Holdt scores hat-trick

Spurs run riot in second half after early red card

Tottenham smashed seven second-half goals past Crystal Palace to move up to second in the Women's Super League, with Olivia Holdt scoring three against their 10-player hosts.

Sunday’s clash at Selhurst Park was goalless at half-time despite Palace having Fuka Tsunoda sent off for a reckless challenge on Cathinka Tandberg just seven minutes in. The contest was flipped on its head after the break as Holdt scored three, along with two goals for Victoria Pelova and finishes from Shekiera Martinez and Amanda Nilden.

The crushing performance saw Spurs accumulate a massive 4.69 expected goals as they moved up to second, two points behind WSL leaders Manchester City.

Holdt highlights healthy competition

Holdt, who marked her first start of the season with a treble, believes squad competition will be key if Tottenham are to mount a title charge.

"Competition is healthy and it'll only make the team better and compete every week," Holdt said on Sky Sports. "I think today Vic [Victoria Pelova] got her first start as well scoring two goals so I think the competition is really healthy and will help us get a really good season."

Palace headed into the clash as the only WSL side yet to concede this season, but a second-half hammering saw that run abruptly ended. By full-time they had faced a mammoth 42 shots, with 13 on target in a one-sided drubbing.

"I was thinking when they got the red card, this could actually be tougher for us," Holdt added. "Because then they could go down in a really low block and just defend. But as the game kept going and we created more and more chances. We came in at half-time and got together and talked [about] our plan... when the first goal came, then it was nice."

Holdt’s three goals all came in different ways, showing her attacking potential. Her first came from a close-range tap-in, the second saw her find the roof of the net from inside the area before she capped a brilliant showing with a finish from outside the box.

"I'm very happy, very pleased. As you said it was my first start this season so I'm just happy to come in, score three goals and help the team to get the win," she concluded.