Derby delight for Arsenal as Tottenham crumble at Hotspur Lane | OneFootball

Arsenal cruised to a 0-3 victory in a forgettable North London Derby on Saturday, laying bare the gulf in class between the sides in the process.

The occasion does not carry the same baggage in the WSL as it might in the Premier League, with the skill gap between the teams neutralizing the occasion somewhat, but the packed out stands would serve as evidence against that statement.

Arsenal’s win will lift the mood at Colney further, where Renee Slegers’ extended interim posting has brought a sense of uncertainty in stark contrast to the string of wins which followed.

Arsenal would start the game perfectly as a bobbling through ball found Alessia Russo in the box, the Briton firing home after just over a minute to send the Gunners on their way. Goals have not been flowing as they tend to for Russo so far this season, and it was clearly an emotional goal for the forward who wiped a tear from her eye as she celebrated.

The Gunners continued to dominate possession, charting close to 70% in the opening 20 minutes, before doubling their lead after 22 minutes through Frida Maanum, who received the ball in the box and tucked an instinctive finish into the bottom left corner.

Momentum grew at an exponential rate for the visitors as skies darkened over Hotspur Stadium and Beth England hit the ground hard with a head injury.

Some lingering issues of the Jonas Eidevall era seem to remain, though, as Arsenal struggled to convert possession into chances and goals. Tottenham, though, faced bigger problems, failing in possession to involve creators such as Drew Spence and Jessica Naz.

The hosts’ best chance of the half came from nothing, as Arsenal attempted to play out from the back and Spence pounced on a loose pass. She threaded in Beth England, who hit a well-placed and powerful shot towards goal only to be confounded by the outstretched palm of Daphne van Domselaar.

The wasted opportunity rather summed up Spurs’ afternoon. Forced to sit deep by Arsenal’s relentless attack, attackers were quickly isolated, and the team as a whole was undermined by the visitors’ organization. On Tottenham’s rare opportunities to break, Arsenal tracked back with impressive discipline while the Lilywhites neglected to commit players forward, a lack of commitment in midfield particularly glaring.

There was an evident commitment in the second half from Spurs, who came out after the break with some previously absent gusto, but this would be quickly beat back by Stina Blackstenius, who added Arsenal’s third minutes after being substituted on, prompting a handful of home fans to make their way to the exit.

The early deserters are symptomatic of Vilahamn’s Tottenham, who simply do not do enough to keep fans in their seats. The players did not seem up for the derby: there were no crunching tackles, no petty squaring up, no venom. These are things you cannot sell a derby without, and Vilahamn’s passive setup is not going to produce moments that can sell tickets.

Arsenal were in stark contrast, having the requisite ranks of stars and exciting talent to keep the away end on the edge of their seats. Even in a transitional state as a club, the Gunners have far more to offer. Even on a day when they were not at their best, they strolled to a three goal win over their closest rivals, confirming the status on north London as red.