Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur: Women's FA Cup quarter-final – live!

The proverbial acres of space has now opened up in the Spurs defence, and Arsenal are punishing them. It’s a shame in a way because the defensive efforts that Spurs put in were so impressive. But Arsenal’s class has told. Evans turns the ball into the roof of the net from close range after an attack down the right, and it’s her hat-trick. Mead then has a chance to make it 5-0 but she scuffs a first-time shot wide.

88 min: A final change for Arsenal: The 17-year-old Ruby Mace comes on, making her debut, replacing the captain Little. A memorable day for Mace and quite a good situation to join the action, with her team running out comfortable winners.

Game over. Class finish by Evans too, after she is played in by Van De Donk. She took one touch which perfectly allowed to clip a shot beyond Spencer and put this game to bed once and for all.

82 min: More changes for Arsenal: Maritz andSchnaderbeck off, Maier and Wubben-Moy come on. Leon and Addison on for Percival and Graham. Spurs have now used all their substitutes, so Alex Morgan will not be getting on the field. The TV director cuts to a shot of Morgan still wearing that big scarf/snood across almost her entire face. She looks cold, but then you would be, wouldn’t you?

80 min: The pace of the game has certainly not dropped since the goals. Spurs haven’t threatened much since that Kennedy header, but if they can find a goal here then we will have an exciting finish.

76 min: Beth Mead and Malin Gut have come on for Arsenal, with Nobbs and Miedema. Meanwhile Neville and Ayane have gone off for Spurs, with Dean and Quinn on.

Yet again it was a joy to watch Miedema play tonight, in terms of creativity and composure, she was a class apart – and finally she got her reward by setting up that second goal for Evans with another superb pass.

Miedema plays another classy pass after Spurs lose it on the edge of their own penalty area, and Lisa Evans slides in the finish, making it look very simple indeed. After so much excellent defending, Spurs have been punished for two moments of slackness and Arsenal have reward for all their excellent attacking play.

It’s a cracker from Jordan Nobbs! It was a mistake from the Spurs defence, as Ashleigh Neville played a poor pass straight to Nobbs. Nobbs found herself in plenty of space, took the ball towards the penalty area, and with Spencer off her line, she chipped a lovely shot into the net to break the deadlock.

69 min: A change for Spurs. Josie Green comes on, with Chloe Peplow off. Meanwhile, Kennedy is booked.

67 min: We will of course have 30 minutes of extra-time, and potentially penalties, if this is still goalless at full-time.

66 min: Miedema fires over a cross. Then Arsenal come again and Little makes a good run and sends a cross/shot in from an angle. Wave after wave of Arsenal attacks keep coming.

63 min: McCabe smashes the free-kick just wide! She hits a left-footed shot with massive power, and it looks set to fly into the top corner, but it just fades away at the decisive moment. Arsenal continue to move through the gears though, and this Tottenham defence will no doubt be starting to tire. Is it time for Spurs to unload the bench?

62 min: With a clever turn, Little wins a free-kick for Arsenal, fouled by Kennedy, right on the edge of the penalty area.

58 min: Miedema hits a shot from distance. Miedema hits a shot wide. It is still 0-0. Arsenal seem a little frustrated, like they can’t get themselves going, but that of course is a testament to how well Tottenham have performed so far.

55 min: What a chance for Tottenham! Spurs win a corner, Peplow hits it into the danger zone, and the Arsenal defence goes missing as Kennedy climbs, unchallenged, eight yards out to power a header towards goal. But the header isn’t well directed and falls harmlessly wide. This really would be a classic smash-and-grab if Spurs can sneak a winner from somewhere.

53 min: Another intricate move – and Arsenal finally have the ball in the Spurs net – but the effort is disallowed for a foul on Zadorsky.

52 min: Another good move from Arsenal ends with Nobbs sliding a shot from an angle straight at Spencer. It was Kim Little who played in Nobbs with a very perceptive pass. Can Arsenal find a way past this Spurs defence? We’ve not had any goals, so far, but I am enjoying this as a contest.

48 min: Another touch of class by Miedama, with Arsenal on the front foot early in the second half. The Dutchwoman slides a well-weighted pass down the right flank, in between two Spurs defenders, intended for Foord, and wins her side a corner.

Here we go again. Gemma Davison unleashes a shot for Tottenham, from long-range, in the first minute of the second half. It’s a decent effort but it goes high and wide.

Don’t let the scoreline fool you: This has been a high-quality encounter, a really hard-fought contest, with Tottenham defending resolutely to keep Arsenal at bay, while presenting quite a threat on the counter from time to time. Watching from the stands, Alex Morgan should be quite impressed with her new teammates’ efforts. Miedama looks a little bit perturbed as she talks to a teammate while walking off at the break. I will be back in a few minutes to bring you the second half – and possibly a debut for Morgan?

42 min: Arsenal hit back – Miedema and Nobbs effect a brilliant one-two in a very crowded Spurs box. Miedama takes the ball in and flashes a low pass across the Spurs goal, but there is no one there to meet it. Still 0-0.

40 min: Rosella Ayane of Spurs bursts towards goal and wants a penalty after she is possibly tugged back. But nothing doing from the ref. Then, there is a lovely bit of skill by Alanna Kennedy, who turns a couple of defenders inside out near the left corner and sends a cross/shot goalwards.

38 min: That free-kick, conceded by Little of Arsenal, is thumped into the danger area by Kit Graham. It’s a superb delivery too, into the corridor of uncertainty, and Zinsberger has no choice but to try and intercept it. She gets a decent punch on the ball and the danger is eventually cleared. If Spurs were to go in at half-time winning this, it really would be something, given all the pressure that Arsenal have mounted on their opponents’ goal.

35 min: An email from Peter Oh, entitled ‘Knights of the Round Table’:

“Having a Percival and a Morgan(a) in the team can only help Tottenham’s quest for the holy grail of a first FA Cup. However, Arsenal have Mace and Mead on their side. They could go medieval on Spurs.”

Like it, Peter, like it.

It’s still 0-0 as we enter the final 10 minutes of the half. Tottenham win a free-kick in a dangerous position.

33 min: More impressive defending from Spurs. The weather may be pretty poor but Tottenham look to be relishing their task in trying to keep Van de Donk, Miedema et al at bay. They’ll be very happy to make it to half-time goalless, and maybe look to use some of that talent off the bench in the second half.

30 min: Lee Kirkpatrick emails: “Hey Luke,

“Watching the match on FA Player and following your blog (which I just discovered). For some strange reason I’ve recently developed a keen interest in the FA WSL! You think Morgan will get any minutes today?”

Thanks for the email, Lee. It’s good to know that Morgan is attracting fans for the WSL from the States. Yes, if I was going to have a bet, I would say Morgan will get 20 minutes in the second half at least.

27 min: Tottenham’s Shelina Zadorsky goes in the book for a late challenge on Miedema. There had to be a booking sooner or later with several fouls having been committed by Spurs. In weather news, it’s starting to rain quite hard.

25 min: Karen Hills and Juan Amoros, the Spurs coaches, will be happy with this. Aside from Foord’s header on to the bar, Arsenal have been contained pretty well. The Gunners will always look dangerous, but it’s been a good defensive shift from Spurs so far.

22 min: The fouls are certainly mounting up from Spurs as they are forced to work exceptionally hard to contain this excellent Arsenal side. Peplow gets a talking-to from the referee for a foul in midfield. In the stands, Alex Morgan is pictured with a snood obscuring most of her face as she shelters from this chilly September evening in London.

19 min: Another classy touch by Miedama, as she flicks a crossfield pass over her own head with her right heel and tries to race on to it. But Spencer in the Spurs goal is alert to the danger and snuffs it out. Lovely skill by Miedama, the kind of thing her compatriot Dennis Bergkamp would have attempted.

14 min: Tottenham have competed well in the early exchanges, but Arsenal are starting to show their firepower in attack a little bit more. Ria Percival is penalised for a foul on Foord now, in an advanced position for the Gunners, but Arsenal waste the resulting free-kick.

11 min: Arsenal’s Miedama has four goals in two matches so far this season, by the way. Two against West Ham and Reading before that. Now, Lisa Evans powers down the left flank this time for Arsenal, having been played in by the ever-impressive Miedama, and Foord tries to get to the near post to deflect the cross goalwards, but the ball ricochets out of play.

7 min: Arsenal hit the crossbar! Caitlin Foord climbs to meet an excellent cross from Leah Williamson out on the right, which drops around the penalty spot, and Foord powers a textbook header goalwards. But it cannons back off the crossbar having looped over Spencer in goal. A serious warning for Spurs.

5 min: It’s been a frenetic, high-paced start in keeping with any good north London derby. Kit Graham tries a shot for Tottenham from outside the penalty area, but her low effort lacks a bit of power and it’s a comfortable save for Manuela Zinsberger in the Arsenal goal.

After all the players and match officials take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign, Arsenal get the match under way. Straight away there is defending to do for Spurs, but Miedama can’t quite reach a low forward pass in the penalty area.

The BBC on-screen team are wrapped up warm against the cold – after a sunny but windy morning it is a pretty unpleasant afternoon in London, with blustery winds, and rain in the air. Here we go – the teams are out, and we are less than two minutes from kick-off.

Arsenal head coach Joe Montemurro speaks to the BBC: “It’s important we give it our best shot … we want to go as far as we can, so it’s an important game for us.”

Asked about the story of the day Morgan, Montemurro’s Spurs counterpart Karen Hills tells the BBC: “She’s been fantastic in training this week, she’s worked really hard. It’s great for all the rest of the players just to have her around.” And will she play today? “She’s on the bench, so who knows?”

“It sent shockwaves, everyone was so surprised when Alex Morgan signed for Spurs,” says Alex Scott, on pundit duty on the BBC. “But that’s what you need to grow the game. You need superstars like that coming into the league.”

These FA Cup ties were initially meant to take place in March, so it’s been a long wait. The other three ties will be tomorrow: Everton v Chelsea, Leicester City v Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion v Birmingham City.

Now, while we await kick-off, here is some pre-match reading from Suzanne Wrack on Alex Morgan:

Spurs team: Spencer (capt.), Zadorsky, Harrop, Davison, Peplow, Percival, Worm, Graham, Kennedy, Ayane, Neville. Subs: Martin, Leon, Green, Filbey, Dean, Morgan, Addison, Quinn, Sulola.

Tottenham’s stellar new signing Alex Morgan has already won a phenomenal amount: two World Cups and Olympic Gold with the USA, a Champions League, a French league title, an NWSL title and a plethora of prestigious personal awards.

One thing missing from Morgan’s CV so far, however, is a competitive outing for her new north-London club, but that could all change this afternoon. Morgan is on the bench as Spurs travel to Arsenal with a place in the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals up for grabs. History is certainly on Arsenal’s side, as 16-times winners of this competition, while their London rivals have never tasted success in the Cup.

Will Morgan be posting to her 9.2m loyal Instagram followers after victory or defeat later this evening? Combine Arsenal’s cup pedigree with their goal-scoring form of late – they thrashed West Ham 9-1 two weeks ago and Reading 6-1 less than a week before that – the home side are surely heavy favourites.

Tottenham handed out a heavy beating to Coventry United in the previous round of this competition, a 5-0 win, and since then have drawn 1-1 at home to West Ham and lost 1-0 away to Everton. But could Morgan’s introduction inspire them to an unlikely result against Joe Montemurro’s goal-hungry side? We are about to find out. Kick-off is at 5.15pm, full team news to follow …