The home side had 18 shots to Spurs’ six but fell to a 2-1 reverse, as the visitors came behind to snatch a shock victory, ending our 33-game home unbeaten run.
While the post-match analysis centred around the controversy of the winning goal – the ball seeming to strike Rosella Ayane’s hand before hitting Steph Houghton, bouncing off the post and in off Karima Benameur Taieb – Taylor asserted his side had no-one to blame but themselves.
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“We need to take our chances,” he stated. “We had more than enough, especially in the first half, to win the game.
“Looking at tonight and the way we got to the final third was really impressive. I spoke to the players at half-time and said they should be dead and buried but it’s always dicey when that happens.
“You always leave yourself open if you don’t take your chances. We should have been out of sight at half-time – maybe two or three goals up but if you leave the door open at 1-0, you always leave the team the opportunity to get back in.
“I’ve seen the second goal and it’s a terrible decision but we need to own it and make sure we don’t get into that situation by putting the game to bed a lot earlier than that.
“It’s pretty incredible really that we’ve not had that chalked off. I still believe the game is in our hands.
“If the officials were to see that back, I’m pretty sure they would say that goal should not stand – the hand completely put Steph off clearing the ball.
“It’s something that we don’t want to happen and we’ve got to improve the standard across the board. There were a few dodgy or iffy situations this evening and that was one of them.
“[Last season] we had the handball against Chelsea and the penalty given to Chelsea that wasn’t a penalty… The officials didn’t need a third eye tonight and there have been some pretty contentious decisions happening within the game.
“I take full responsibility and on another night, we win that game by four or five goals. I’m not the first coach who has sat in this position, and it’s not the first time I’ve sat in this position where you’ve dominated and then lose the game.
“Football never changes and if we all had the answer to that question [how do you take your chances] we’d be masters and we’d never lose the game.”
There was more disappointing news for City as youngster Esme Morgan was stretchered off with injury early on.
Taylor admitted it is too soon for a diagnosis but revealed the 20-year-old defender, who had been selected for England’s 25-strong list for next week’s 2023 World Cup qualifiers, was in good spirits.
The Head Coach also provided an update on Hayley Raso and Caroline Weir, who were withdrawn before the game with knocks - two of eight players sidelined for the hosts.
On Esme, he explained: “She was up and I managed to see her briefly but I think she’s gone off to have a x-ray just to check.
“It looked pretty nasty but hopefully, it’s not too bad. She was sat up and in good spirits.
“How her international duty is looking now is uncertain. It was a knock she took on her right shin. Fingers crossed, there’s no break in there or any kind of fracture.
“The injuries [to Caroline and Hayley] are not too significant but enough to keep them out.
“For Caroline, it was a slight tendonitis issue – not too significant. Hayley had a shoulder problem. She’s taken some knocks over recent weeks.
“It’s not too significant and hopefully, they settle down over the next few days.
“We cope because we have to. We still had a decent team out and decent players on the bench.
“Filippa [Angeldahl] came in and showed some promise and everyone’s got to step up at the minute. We’ll lose others as well I’m sure.
“It was a long hard season last year and we’re lacking pre-season so it stacks up against us but we’ll fight back and deal with it and get players back.”
