Vilahamn insists Spurs deserved shootout success over City

Robert Vilahamn insisted Tottenham's penalty victory over Manchester City was no fluke as his side booked their spot in the last four of the Women's FA Cup.

Spurs will now play in the competition's semi-final stage for the first time ever, having won a tense shootout 4-3 following a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.

City were ahead early thanks to Australian international Mary Fowler's deflected strike and rarely looked threatened in the opening period.

However, having failed to build on their lead, Gareth Taylor's high-fliers suffered a sucker punch when Bethany England equalised in the sixth minute of injury time following an error from visiting keeper Khiara Keating.

In extra time, the hosts had the better of proceedings and Vilahamn felt his side got what they deserved when Amy James-Turner stroked home the winning spot-kick.

Vilahamn said: "I actually think we deserved it. The game the girls played tonight was amazing.

"All the players coming in, you could feel it. When we scored to make it 1-1 in the last second, we deserved that and in extra-time we were actually going for it.

"To then win the penalties, it's a wonderful feeling.

"It was very frustrating to give them a goal so easily early on but that's football. The character we showed after that was really good.

"We pushed them down and showed we wanted to dictate this game. We won the duels, were very sharp with the ball.

"I'm very proud of the girls because we show now that we not only compete but we can actually beat the top three teams."

The Swede, 41, also reserved special praise for his goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer, with the Jamaican international denying England duo Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly in the shootout.

Vilahamn added: "She's been training very well the last few weeks and then she got her chance in the last game. I thought she was great against Arsenal.

"She's so calm in the goal with her feet, making her saves and then in the shootout. I'm so happy for her."

Spurs join holders Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester in the semi-finals, with the draw set to be made on Tuesday morning.