Alessia Russo delivered an outstanding player-of-the-match performance as Arsenal dominated their north London rivals Tottenham with a commanding 5-0 victory in front of 55,784 fans at the Emirates Stadium.
The England forward was a constant threat throughout the match, first making an impact on the quarter-hour mark when she latched onto Kyra Cooney-Cross’ cross and appeared to open the scoring. However, the goal was later credited as an own goal to Tottenham’s Clare Hunt, whose header deflected off the defender and into the net at the far post.
Arsenal’s lead was then extended just before half-time when Maria Caldentey struck a powerful shot from distance that flew into the net, making it 2-0. In the second half, the Gunners increased their advantage even further when Frida Maanum’s shot, played in by Russo, took a massive deflection off Hunt and found the net to make it 3-0 just six minutes after the restart.
Russo added a fourth shortly before the hour mark, finishing off a well-weighted pass from Caitlin Foord with a low drive into the bottom corner. But the final goal of the match was arguably the best, as US right-back Emily Fox, unchallenged on the edge of the box, unleashed a stunning strike into the top corner to score her first-ever WSL goal.
With the win, Arsenal remain firmly in the hunt for the title, keeping pace with defending champions Chelsea at the top of the table.
