WSL: Terland the hero again as Albion comeback against Leicester
I’m not really the sort of person who gets tattoos. But if Elisabeth Terland continues her run of scoring form – which now includes two goals in the final eight minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw for Brighton Women against Leicester City – then I might have to reconsider.
In September of last year, then-Albion manager Hope Powell said of Terland: “She’s got a big future in the game. She’s very ambitious, she wants to be a top striker for club and country and is prepared to put in the work.”
And Terland has certainly been showing the fruits of that hard work this season. After being left out of the Norway squad for the World Cup in the summer, it would have been understandable if Terland’s promising career trajectory took a slump.
Instead, she has started the season like a house on fire. Her quickfire double in Brighton Women 2-2 Leicester not only secured a vital point, but also means Terland is now the outright top scorer in the WSL so far this season.
This was the meeting of two of last season’s relegation survivors. Both clubs have been busy over the summer with transfer business designed to avoid that fate again this season.
The result of that business has been encouraging starts to the campaign followed by some bumps back down to earth with reality giving them a serious check. And in Brighton Women 2-2 Leicester, we saw the promising and worrying sides of each team’s game.
In many ways, you could see that this was the first game back after a busy international break. Couple that factor with a cold day at the Broadfield Stadium and a pitch which looked like it had seen better days, and it’s no surprise that this game took a while to get going.
In fact, the pitch was so bad that it’s a good thing it will be Brighton’s last game here for over a month due to the upcoming winter break. Shame Crawley Town don’t have the same to give the surface the time it needs to recover.
Before Brighton 2-2 Leicester, Albion Women boss Mel Phillips admitted: “We know the Liverpool performance was far from our best… We know the challenge we face and we’re looking forward to relishing that.”
Compared to the recent bumper crowds for the visits of Arsenal and Manchester United, an attendance of just under 2,000 made for a comparatively sparsely populated Broadfield. The lack of atmosphere combined with the pitch made for a low-key, scrappy affair in the first half.
Brighton had to do without Katie Robinson and Jorelyn Carabali, both of whom dropped to the bench following their involvements during the international break.
The Albion definitely lacked some offensive inspiration as a result, highlighted by the difference Robinson made when entering the game in the second half.
Brighton thought they might have made the perfect start when Terland had the ball in the net in the first minute but was flagged offside.
Poppy Pattinson, making her first start in the WSL since the defeat to Spurs in October, was a constant threat down the left. She had an early shot blocked by the Leicester defence.
Foxes forward Lena Petermann looked dangerous for the visitors. She responded to that Pattinson effort by heading a good chance harmlessly wide as neither team could sufficiently test the opposition goalkeeper.
It did seem like this was a game that would need something spectacular to get it going. And after a handful of half-chances at either end, it was Petermann who netted a superb opening goal to give the visitors the lead right at the end of the first half.
A long kick upfield from the Leicester goalkeeper caught Emma Kullbeg and the rest of the Albion defence napping. Petermann was then able to get on the end of her own knock down to score.
Julia Rantala then doubled the visitors lead shortly after the break. Following Palmer’s blocked shot, Samantha Tierney picked up the loose ball up on the edge of the box and found Finnish international Rantala in space with a clever through ball. Rantala calmly curled into the top corner past Sophie Baggaley.
The two goals either side of the break left Brighton with a lot to do. And it wasn’t until Robinson entered the fray with just under half hour to go that a sleepy Broadfield awoke.
A surging run forward from Pauline Bremer soon had Robinson in the game. Robinson played it to Terland, whose shot wide was probably Brighton’s best chance of the afternoon at that point and an instigator for a period of Albion pressure.
The Seagulls were back in the game with just under 10 minutes to go. A long kick forward by Maria Thorisdottir found Terland surging behind the Leicester defence to pull the deficit back to one with a cool finish.
Then with the game in its dying moments, Bremer found Albion’s livewire down the left Pattinson. Her cross unfathomably found Terland unmarked in the box to score with a beautiful diving header to tie the score and get her second goal in six minutes.
Phillips said of Terland after the game: “She works so hard and is such a huge piece of how we train and prepare.” Having moved onto seven for the season, Terland has already tied her goals total from the entire 2022-23 campaign before Christmas.
Despite time running out, Brighton did have a number of chances to take all three points late on. They had finally found their feet and their high-press was very much in gear, with Robinson, Bremer and Vicky Losada all having efforts at goal to give Brighton an unlikely winner.
It was a counter-attack that gave Brighton their best chance for the win. A long pass from Pattinson on halfway found Robinson on the edge of the box and she squared to the onrushing Guro Bergsvand.
Rather than shooting, the Norwegian sensibly passed it to her in-form international teammate Terland. On a hat-trick, Terland could only sidefoot the ball wide of the post.
With the Albion pushing players forward for a winner, Leicester found space at the other end. Rantala and former Brighton striker Aileen Whelan caused the Albion defence a couple of moments of concern, but also to no avail and the game ended all square.
If the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool a fortnight ago was a reality check for Mel Philips’ side, this late comeback draw was just the morale boost they needed after a tough run of fixtures and just the one win in their last eight WSL fixtures.
The trip to the Midlands to face Aston Villa next weekend remains Brighton’s final fixture before the winter break. And given how tight the league table is, it’s a game where the result will have a huge impact on the team’s mentality going into that break.
Despite this euphoric comeback and heroics from Terland, this was not a vintage Brighton performance. As Phillips admitted post-match: “We know we still have things where we can improve, but we have a great group and they kept going and got their rewards today.”
There certainly seems to be huge belief among the team that the performance levels can improve. Just take the view of two-goal hero Terland from her BBC Sport interview last month.
“I really like to play under Mel,” Terland said. “The way she affects the group, the attitudes she gives to every single player, the way she wants us to work every day in training and wants us to play – it really affects the team. Everyone believes in what we’re doing.”
Phil
