Alessia Russo scored a first-half hat-trick as Arsenal beat north London rivals Tottenham to move up to second in the Women’s Super League.
The England striker was on target twice in the first seven minutes at Emirates Stadium to put the Gunners in control, heading in from a corner before confidently rounding the goalkeeper and stroking in her second.
Tottenham pulled one back when Arsenal’s Frida Maanum headed into her own net under pressure from Cathinka Tandberg but the hosts soon restored their two-goal advantage.
A poor pass out from Spurs goalkeeper Lize Kop presented Russo with the ball 15 yards out and she thumped it home to complete her first hat-trick for Arsenal.
Caitlin Foord put the result beyond doubt with a smart turn and finish in the 61st minute with Beth England’s thunderous late strike providing little consolation for Spurs.
Arsenal had the last word, though, with Stina Blackstenius running clear to slot in the fifth in stoppage time.
Victory completes a fantastic week for Renee Slegers’ side after an impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.
The Gunners go above Chelsea and Manchester United in the WSL table and while, even with two games in hand, it is highly unlikely they will make up the 11 points to leaders Manchester City, they remain well placed in the battle for the final two European places.
There was little sign of fatigue after their midweek exploits as Arsenal seized control early with Russo given far too much space in the box as she stooped to head Katie McCabe’s in-swinging delivery into the corner of the goal.
Moments later the former Manchester United forward was racing onto Olivia Smith’s through ball and skipping past Kop before finishing precisely into the far corner to wrong-foot the defender on the line.
Spurs’ response, via Maanum’s own goal from a corner, briefly raised hopes of a comeback but they were quashed as Kop gifted Russo her third seven minutes later.
There was a clear belief within the stadium that Arsenal had the game won even before Foord took down Stilla Holmberg’s cross and lashed in her first WSL goal since September.
Beth England came off the bench to give Spurs a glimmer of hope, thumping a shot through the hands of Daphne van Domselaar to reduce the deficit, just a couple of minutes after seeing a superb header clawed away by the Arsenal keeper.
But there was to be no grandstand finish, Blackstenius completing the scoring as Arsenal recorded an 11th consecutive win in all competitions.
