After suffering defeat at the hands of The Lilywhites back in December, Arsenal had to prove that North London is indeed red in front of a sold-out crowd at The Emirates on Sunday.
Alessia Russo scored the only goal of the game, keeping Arsenal in the title race, as the top of the table heats up in the run up to May. The Gunners now sit only three points off league leaders Chelsea.
Despite going into half-time level, it didn’t take long for the home side to break the deadlock after the interval when Beth Mead’s deflected effort found Alessia Russo, who skilfully tapped in with her right foot at close range in the 49th minute.
Although failing to score, Spurs had spells of possession, with their closest chance coming from Jessica Naz who fired the ball at the face of goal, but keeper Manuela Zinsberger’s save sent the ball ricocheting off the woodwork.
Spurs defender Amy Turner told The River: “We are disappointed, we had a couple of chances on the break but I think it was always going to be a tough day for us.
We’ve pushed on from last season for sure, I think we’re playing out from the back a little bit more and giving teams something different to think about.”
60,050 fans were in attendance, as Arsenal celebrated back-to-back sell outs at The Emirates stadium. More history was made as a team of 13 all female grounds team prepared the pitch for the game.
In true North London derby fashion, six yellow cards were distributed, four to Spurs and two to the home side. Speaking to The River, Tottenham Hotspur forward Grace Clinton said: “We definitely expected it to be physical. A derby is a derby, if it wasn’t physical you’d be worried.”
Arsenal have now won seven consecutive home games for the first time in WSL history, whereas Spurs have not won in the league since January 21, after a narrow 4-3 win over West Ham.
The Gunners next take on Chelsea in the WSL at Stamford Bridge, with tickets available now.
Shaunelle Harrydass-Clark
Emma Farr
Balsam Maki