Win over Aston Villa showed “the Arsenal way”, says Renee Slegers | OneFootball

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 28: Renee Slegers, Manager of Arsenal, prepares to walk out of the tunnel prior to the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2026 Semi Final match between Arsenal Women FC and ASFAR at Brentford stadium on January 28, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Harriet Lander – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Arsenal beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Saturday, ensuring they will finish at least third in the Women’s Super League this season.

And head coach Renee Slegers was pleased with a professional display, with two goals from Alessia Russo and one from Frida Maanum.

It came after a tricky week when the Gunners had been knocked out of the UEFA Women’s Champions League by Lyon, and been denied the chance of the WSL title with a draw against Brighton and Hove Albion.

“We wanted to show the Arsenal way and how much we love to be on the ball and make sure that we are in positions to be on the ball as much as possible, because that’s when we’re really, really good,” Slegers said, according to the official club website.

“So I was happy we started with that, spent quite some time on the ball and got the early goal.

“If you look at the context and going into this game with the mental hits of exiting the Champions League and the draw against Brighton, we had to deal with that. Villa away was hard for us last year.

“The home game, which was one of our games we drew, so we conceded that late corner 1-1. So the challenge was there. Plus the short turnaround from an evening game on Wednesday night to a very early kick-off today.

“So what the team has produced today is really, really good. I think we nullified their strengths, we kept a clean sheet again, and we dominated most parts of the game.”

Arsenal head coach Slegers: Russo and Maanum have a strong partnership

And on the Russo-Maanum combination, Slegers reflected: “They’ve played a lot together, both last season and this season, so their partnership is really strong. They work so well together out of possession, and in possession, they combined really well today as well.

“I think what Alessia does in the nine and the spaces that she can create and get into, and then how Frida can create space, because big parts of the game she was marked away, so she had to create spaces, which she did really well.”

Arsenal now need to make the most of their remaining game in hand – against Everton at the Emirates this week – in order to leapfrog Chelsea and take second place ahead of the final day of the league season.

The team who finishes second gain direct access to the Women’s Champions League; the third-placed team have to go through qualifying.