Alessia Russo’s first-half hat-trick helped Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 in the north London derby to keep alive their Women’s Super League title hopes.
Renee Slegers’ side needed to respond after Man City had breezed to victory in the Manchester derby earlier in the day and they did thanks to Russo’s first treble for the club as the Gunners stayed 11 points behind the leaders with two games in hand.
The England striker opened her tally with a powerful fifth-minute header after being picked out from Katie McCabe’s corner, before minutes later latching on to Olivia Smith’s pass, rounding the onrushing Lize Kop and slotting the ball home from a tight angle.
Alessia Russo scores her second goal of the game
Having got themselves back into the game thanks to Frida Maanum’s own goal – the visitors’ first-ever goal at the Emirates – Spurs then gifted their neighbours a third when Kop passed the ball straight to Russo, who gratefully accepted the present for her hat-trick goal before the half-hour mark.
Russo had eight first-half shots, the joint-most by any player in a WSL game this season, although it was Caitlin Foord who added a fourth just past the hour mark with a thunderous strike into the top corner.
Caitlin Foord celebrates after scoring Arsenal’s fourth goal
Substitute Bethany England’s sweet strike did give Spurs hope on her 200th WSL appearance, only for Stina Blackstenius to come off the bench to poach a fifth for the Gunners in injury-time to send most of the 46,123 fans in attendance home happy.
Russo celebrates with her Arsenal team-mates
The comprehensive display extended Arsenal’s winning run to 11 matches in all competitions, while it was also a record-extending 17th straight home victory in the WSL, including over Man City and Chelsea, to just about keep them in the title race.
Russo savours match-winning treble
Arsenal hat-trick hero Alessia Russo on Sky Sports:
“It feels really nice. I love to score goals as much as I can and to do it here at the Emirates in a north London derby is really nice. It’s a good three points moving on to the rest of the season.
“The first one, it’s a great ball in from Katie. We work on set-pieces all the time and it’s nice when one comes off.
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Russo runs rampant in the north London derby with a 22-minute hat-trick for Arsenal against Spurs
“We practise one-v-one finishing all the time in training, so it is about decision-making and using the goalkeeper to make your mind up. As soon as she came out I knew I was going to take it around her.
“Then the third one, again something that we do a lot is high pressure and making that count.”
Slegers: Russo developing and driving team more
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers on Sky Sports:
“She’s [Russo] now also part of the captain’s group at Arsenal. I think she’s always herself, wanting to bring her best version, very humble.
“She’s lovely to work with, very respectful to anyone she works with or passes by. But you can see she’s stepping up and you see moments in training as well where she’s instructing more, communicating more, driving the team more.
“Also, she’s more vocal and that’s really good. She’s definitely developing that and we love to see it because she’s a great person and she has so much intelligence as well as a footballer.”
Foord: We’re building our momentum
Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord on Sky Sports:
“We created a lot of chances and put the ball in the back of the net a couple of times, Less [Alessia Russo] getting a hat-trick. We are building our momentum and the girls have been in good form. We wanted to continue that and we did that.
“I was super pleased to get into the game, get that last game out of the way now to move on, and to put the ball in the back of the net again. I’m always pleased about that because I like doing my part for the team.
“The girls have been great since I’ve been away [at the Asia Cup]. They have scored lots of goals and got lots of wins so it was exciting to watch from all the way on the other side of the world.
“Our next game is massive. Obviously we’re up, but it’s always a tough game against Chelsea. We know we have to be at our best to get to the next stage.”
