Tottenham 1-5 Arsenal: Foord nets twice as visitors THRASH rivals

Tottenham 1-5 Arsenal: Caitlin Foord nets twice as visitors THRASH their rivals to go two points off WSL leaders Chelsea – bouncing back from their midweek defeat by Bayern Munich

  • Arsenal climbed to within two points of Women’s Super League leaders Chelsea 
  • Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord fired the Gunners 2-0 ahead at the break
  • Foord, Kim Little and Frida Maanum made it five during a dominant second-half 

When Tottenham held Arsenal to a 2-2 draw in last season’s north London derby, it felt as though the distance between the two clubs was finally starting to narrow.

Fast-forward a year and the Gunners have won both games against their rivals with an aggregate score of 9-1. Saturday’s 5-1 victory, coming after a testing midweek Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich, demonstrated that Arsenal are further ahead than Spurs than they ever have been.

Goals from Stina Blackstenius, Kim Little, Frida Maanum and two from Caitlin Foord made it a comfortable afternoon for Jonas Eidevall’s side.

Interim manager Vicky Jepson was taking charge of her second game after ending a run of nine straight league defeats with a 1-0 win over Leicester last week, but her team were out-played and out-fought for large periods.

Arsenal took the lead after just five minutes when Blackstenius out-paced Molly Bartrip to race on to Leah Williamson’s pass down the right wing. With an unsuspecting Tinja-Riikka Korpela off her line, Blackstenius lobbed the goalkeeper with a powerful right-footed shot from just inside the box.

Arsenal clawed back ground in the WSL title race with a supreme 5-1 win over rivals Tottenham

Leah Williamson (right) celebrates with Jodie Taylor (left) as the Gunners moved into second

It was 2-0 just before the half hour mark when Foord glided past Ashleigh Neville and was given time to hit a 20-yard strike into the bottom right corner of the net.

The Gunners should have had a third when Maanum played through Victoria Pelova, but her effort was saved by the feet of Korpela.

Spurs were briefly given a lifeline when referee Louise Sanders awarded a penalty after Katie McCabe blocked Neville’s shot with her hand. England converted spot-kick emphatically into the bottom left corner.

But it was all Arsenal in the second half and their dominance was finally rewarded when McCabe was brought down by Amy Turner in the box.

Kim Little scored from the penalty spot midway through the second half to put Arsenal 3-1 up

Caitlin Foord’s impressive brace fired Arsenal just two points adrift of league leaders Chelsea

McCabe had already hit a wild shot wide when Amy Turner tripped her in the box. It was a needless foul and gave Arsenal the chance to kill the game. 

Little made no mistake, firing the penalty into the roof of the net.

It was game over when Foord added a fourth as she met Pelova’s cross to finish smartly at the back-post. Foord’s brace means she now has seven goals in six games against Spurs.

But there was still time for the best goal of the afternoon as Maanum made it 5-1 with a sensational 20-yard strike into the top right corner of the net.


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