Welcome to Full Time, The Athletic’s women’s football column, a one-stop shop every Monday to discuss the big issues in the game in the UK and Europe.

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Spurs showcase youth in seven-goal epic

As the wind-battered West Ham United’s home, the Chigwell Construction Stadium in Dagenham, Tottenham Hotspur triumphed in a thriller, ending 4-3, which delivered everything you would want from a Sunday night game under the lights: incredible finishing, unusual defending and a controversial goal.

The goals by Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn’s side were all created by or scored by players who were 23 or under, showing off the youthful nature of his exciting team.

Tottenham were looking to follow up their first-ever North London derby win against Arsenal (1-0) from before the winter break with another positive result, and despite being pegged back from 1-0 to 1-1 and 3-1 to 3-3, 23-year-old Jessica Naz’s 75th-minute winner secured all three points.

The win and impressive nature of the finishes are evidence of Tottenham’s direction, with Manchester United loanee Grace Clinton in particular being the star of the show. The 20-year-old midfielder has impressed in all aspects of her game this…

Welcome to Full Time, The Athletic’s women’s football column — a one-stop shop every Monday to discuss the big issues in the game across the UK and Europe.

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The main story

Manchester City’s bright start to the WSL season has ground to a halt with back-to-back losses now leaving them six points off league leaders Chelsea.

Having been outdone 2-1 by Arsenal last week, they were stunned by Brighton & Hove Albion at home. Forward Lee Geum-Min’s 81st-minute winner ended her former club’s unbeaten run at the Joie Stadium which stretched back to November 2021.

In their last nine league meetings before Sunday, City had beaten Brighton eight times and drawn once.

It was a familiar story for Gareth Taylor’s side who were dominant for most of the game, having 35 shots (13 on target) and hitting the woodwork twice (Chloe Kelly in the 20th second), but were unable to beat Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley.

For all of their quality, City lacked the killer instinct that allows the very best teams to find a goal even when they are underperforming.

“We should’ve had many goals, but it just didn’t happen,” said Taylor after the game. But those words have long rung…

The Women’s Super League (WSL) summer transfer window is officially open as clubs begin freshening up their squads ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

Chelsea will be attempting to defend their league title for a fifth successive season while Bristol City have returned to the top flight following a two-year absence.

The WSL transfer window opened on June 26 and closes on September 14.

The Athletic brings you all the moves completed by the 12 WSL sides this summer.

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Follow the summer transfer window with The Athletic…

• Transfer blog — live updates
• Latest transfer news
• Premier League done deals
• Listen to The Athletic Women’s Football Podcast

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Arsenal

In:

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Out:

Rafaelle Souza
Fran Stenson
Mana Iwabuchi

GO DEEPER

Arsenal Women summer transfer window: Russo, Lacasse, Batlle on radar

Aston Villa

In:

Daphne van Domselaar (FC Twente)

Out:

Evie Rabjohn (Manchester United)
Remi Allen
Emily Gielnik
Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah
Ruesha Littlejohn
Natasha Harding
Elisha N’Dow
Sian Rogers
Hannah Hampton
Meaghan Sargeant (retired)

Brighton

In:

Pauline Bremer (Wolfsburg)

Out:

Victoria Williams
Kayleigh Green
Megan Connolly
Megan Walsh
Danielle Carter

Bristol City

Bristol City’s women will make Ashton Gate their home after confirming promotion to the Women’s Super League.

Lauren Smith’s side confirmed their return to the top flight with the 4-0 win over Charlton on Sunday.

The Championship winners have played most of the home matches at the Robins High Performance Centre having also played games at Bath City’s Twerton Park in recent years.

But they will now share Ashton Gate, the home of the men’s team, after 7,045 supporters watched on Sunday.

Goals from Grace Clinton, Abi Harrison, Brooke Aspin and Ffion Morgan sealed victory and return to the WSL two years after relegation.

“It feels amazing and it’s because of every everyone around – the 7,000 that are stood behind me, all of the players and staff,” Smith said.

“We knew that we were ambitious this year, and without saying it, this is what we wanted all along. I absolutely knew we had the staff, the players and the club to do it.

“It’s been very twisty-turny and I think, when we look back on it, we learned a lot lessons from the games that we didn’t quite win. And that’s actually allowed us to mature as a group and get to this point.

“I think what’s really great is that we’ve won it here at Ashton Gate and not on the bus back from Sunderland!

“We just…