Arsenal came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the first Women's Super League (WSL) north London derby of the season, played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, 24 October. According to the match report on Arsenal's official website, Cathinka Tandberg headed Spurs into an early lead, Georgia Stanway equalised four minutes later and Alessia Russo won it from the penalty spot early in the second half. Every account in this story comes from the club's own website.

How the derby unfolded

First half

  • Arsenal had the first sight of goal when Stanway played a one-two with Russo and shot left-footed from a narrow angle. Goalkeeper Lize Kop spilled it before pushing the ball behind; from Kyra Cooney-Cross' corner, Stanway's half-volley was blocked.
  • Moments later Tandberg headed in a corner from Victoria Pelova, a former Arsenal player, to put Spurs 1-0 up.
  • Arsenal were behind for only four minutes. Olivia Smith found Russo, who turned and laid it back to Stanway, and Stanway side-footed a first-time finish in off the crossbar to make it 1-1.
  • Pelova fired over from the edge of the box, and Emily Fox headed a Caitlin Foord cross wide.

Second half

  • Kop reacted sharply to stop Russo's first-time effort after Stanway found Foord, whose cross reached Russo.
  • A Cooney-Cross corner was met by Williamson and fired towards the post by Lisa Baum, and the referee gave a penalty for handball by Ella Morris.
  • Russo sent Kop the wrong way and slotted into the bottom left corner for 2-1, then celebrated in front of almost 4,000 travelling Arsenal fans.
  • Kop kept out another powerful Russo strike, while at the other end Signe Gaupset headed a Pelova cross towards goal, an easy catch for goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez.
  • In the 71st minute Ona Batlle replaced Fox, and Elisa de Almeida later came on for Steph Catley.
  • With eight minutes left, Kirsty Hanson crossed for Shekiera Martinez, Misa saved, and the flag was up for offside anyway.
  • In the 87th minute Smilla Holmberg and Stina Blackstenius replaced Baum and Smith. Seven minutes were added on; Foord shot wide from a Holmberg cross, and Arsenal saw the game out.

Line-up and background

Foord was making her first WSL start of the season for Arsenal, the club's post-match interview notes. Arsenal also played Smith up front with Russo just behind her, a set-up Foord enjoyed. “Obviously, I have a good connection with Less as it is and then yes, having Liv's speed for the support in behind as well was really nice,” she said, using the team's nicknames for Russo and Smith.

Arsenal sold out the away section, with almost 4,000 supporters inside the stadium. Before the game the club published a broadcast guide for the derby, which KBVN+ covered on 20 October; that list had no separate entry for Vietnam.

What Slegers and Foord said

Head coach Renée Slegers dedicated the result to the supporters. “Three points in the north London derby, playing for the fans today,” she said. “To get the three points today, it was difficult, it was a fight. It asked a lot from us, also coming back from a goal down.” On Stanway's equaliser, she said it was exactly what the team had been talking about: “See the opening in the box, make the right decision to see who's in the best position to finish for us. And they did that so well.”

She was also pleased with how Arsenal protected the lead. “Because you know it's only one goal difference, Tottenham is still in the game, there were some fighting warrior performances out there today from the whole team,” Slegers said. “I thought Caitlin Foord was amazing.”

On the travelling fans, she added: “It's been difficult times for them as well. But they show up here with all of them and we're selling out the away section.” That was why the players went straight to the supporters at full time instead of forming a huddle.

Foord, for whom the north London derby means more than any other fixture, echoed that. “It's the one game I always look to personally,” she said, adding that the support mattered “especially when we obviously haven't had the results we wanted to”. Of the team's effort, she said: “We had each other's back out there and yes, it felt good.”

What's next

According to Arsenal's website, the team will return to the UEFA Women's Champions League against Benfica at Meadow Park in Borehamwood at 20:00 UK time on Wednesday 28 October (03:00 on 29 October in Vietnam). Arsenal will then host Aston Villa in the WSL at Emirates Stadium at 12:00 UK time on Sunday 1 November (19:00 the same day in Vietnam). The UK ends summer time on 25 October, so UK time is then seven hours behind Vietnam.

Arsenal's report did not include the WSL table. Revisit the broadcast guide for the north London women's derby that Arsenal published before the game.