A rejuvenated Arsenal enjoyed a fifth win from six games without defeat under the stewardship of their interim head coach Renée Slegers as they coasted to a surprisingly easy victory away at neighbours Tottenham in a disappointingly one-sided north London derby.
It took just under 64 seconds for Arsenal to take the lead, with the England striker Alessia Russo emphatically lashing in a first-time strike with her left foot before Tottenham had scarcely had a chance to touch the ball, and when a neat passing move led to the Norway midfielder Frida Maanum being afforded too much time and space in the box to stroke the ball low into the bottom corner for Arsenal’s second in the 22nd minute, the contest felt as good as over.
Only a fingertip save from the Netherlands goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar prevented Bethany England from pulling a goal back for Tottenham shortly before half-time, as she powered a rising strike goalwards, but the steady stream of Arsenal traffic did not really slow down and they resumed their dominance after the break.
The away side appear to have found a good balance to their team, particularly with the Australia defender Steph Catley being deployed as a left-footed centre-back alongside the England captain Leah Williamson, rather than at left-back, and their 4-2-3-1 setup seemed to bring the best out of Russo, who held the ball up with strength and had eager runners either side of her.
When Russo was brought off for a rest, the Arsenal substitute Stina Blackstenius clipped a first-time effort onto the top of the crossbar from a Katie McCabe cut-back, moments before scoring the visitors’ third goal. The Sweden centre-forward was played on side by a slack Tottenham backline and comfortably tucked the ball beyond a powerless Becky Spencer, much to the delight of the packed section of away supporters in one corner of the bottom tier.
The defeat was Tottenham’s fifth in their past six games and their head coach Robert Vilahamn cut a gloomy figure as this fairly flat-feeling derby came to a close, in total contrast to the euphoric scenes this stadium had witnessed when his team beat Arsenal last term for the first time in the WSL.