Spurs Women 0–3 Arsenal Women
by Layth Yousif
at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 

INTERIM head coach Renee Slegers continued to stake her claim to be the next permanent boss of Arsenal Women, following a dominant display in the north London derby that saw her rejuvenated Gunners ease past Spurs 3-0. 

Two early goals by Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum and a second-half strike from Stina Blackstenius were enough to seal a comprehensive victory for Slegers against second-best Spurs on Saturday lunchtime in N17.

Slegers’ visitors dominated from first until last, with Russo putting the Gunners ahead after spinning to smash home past Becky Spencer after only 180 seconds, after Hayley Raso failed to clear.

The strike not only silenced the home support but saw 3,000 passionate Gooners celebrate in the away end at the other end of the ground, only moments after they’d finished a vociferous rendition of the club’s anthem, Angel (North London Forever).

With unpopular Swede Jonas Eidevall now a distant memory, interim head coach Renee Slegers’ effervescent side looked rejuvenated.

Mariona Caldentey showed her quality in the opening stages as the visitors dominated a passive Spurs side, still shocked from conceding such an early opener.

Slegers’ side doubled their lead when Maanum fired past Spencer to make it 2-0 on 22 minutes after being teed up by captain Kim Little.

With only one win in their previous nine matches against Arsenal, Robert Vilahamn’s side were distinctly second best to their rivals, even if Bethany England tested Daphne Van Domselaar with a fierce shot moments before the interval.

However, a third Arsenal goal, from substitute Stina Blackstenius on 66 minutes, from a Caldentey assist thwarted any home hopes of an unlikely comeback, as Slegers made it six games unbeaten since the Eidevall’s nadir.

Speaking after the match, Slegers said: “We look like a team both on and off the pitch, there's positivity around us, staff, players and I think everyone is creating this, so we're creating this together, today with the fans as well.

“Very happy with this and I'm very happy we got to this point and now the challenge is to stay here as well."

Vilahamn accepted his tactics had played a part in the defeat and that Spurs need to find a way to compete with the league’s best.

“When you receive an early goal it can affect you mentally,” he said.

“We didn’t deal with it well enough. In the first half we used a five but they scored and we didn’t get close to them.

“It was a mixture of tactics and Arsenal being good.

“The players showed bravery and we tried to press. We still have it in us, we need to find ways to play against the top three because right now we can’t.”