In front of a record-breaking crowd at Emirates Stadium, we made a dream start to the first north London derby of the season, as Beth Mead put us ahead against Spurs after only five minutes of play.
Jonas Eidevall made three changes to the starting XI that faced Ajax in the week, opting for Laura Wienroither at right back, Katie McCabe down the left wing, and shifting Caitlin Foord into our centre-forward position.
The Gunners burst into action immediately with an early shot on target from Mead that was pushed away for a corner. Naturally, it didn’t take long for Mead to get on the scoresheet. As skipper Kim Little won the ball back at the halfway line and played a beautiful through ball, Beth hit a pearler into the right-hand corner with only five minutes gone.
Our Aussie duo of Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley looked dangerous throughout and Catley came close to doubling our lead on the half-hour mark. After driving through the centre of the pitch, she played a one-two with Katie McCabe, and received the ball in the penalty box but her powerful shot hit the side netting.
Just before half-time, Vivianne Miedema scored her seventh goal in an Arsenal shirt against Tottenham. Our Dutch No.11 pounced on a loose ball outside the Spurs box and one-on-one with the keeper, she cooly slotted it into the corner of the net.
We headed inside for half-time in dominant form: two goals to the good, having had nine corners and 10 shots to Spurs’ two.
After the break, Rafaelle’s second goal for the Gunners gave us a three-goal cushion. Our Brazilian centre-back rose high to meet a corner delivery and unleashed a strong, looping header past Becky Spencer in the Spurs goal.
It was then time for Miedema’s second goal and our second goal from a set-piece, as a corner was played short to Steph Catley whose cross found her waiting by the penalty box to head home.
Eidevall made a number of substitutions after the hour mark, with Jordan Nobbs, Stina Blackstenius, and Lina Hurtig making appearances to exemplify the pure strength in depth of our squad. As Beth Mead made her exit from the pitch, she was greeted with a standing ovation from the Emirates faithful.
As the final whistle blew, our whole squad took to the pitch to thank our Gooners and soak up the atmosphere akin to an end-of-the-season victory.
This is now Manuela Zinsberger's eighth clean sheet in a row for the Gunners. No club in WSL history has ever recorded eight consecutive clean sheets until now.
What it means
We're still top of the Women's Super League table after two games and two wins. Before we face Reading on October 16, there's a small matter of Champions League qualification to contend with. We head to Amsterdam for our second leg against Ajax on Wednesday, September 28. Kick-off is at 6pm UK time.
Team news
Starting XI: Zinsberger, Wienroither, Williamson, Rafelle, Catley, Walti, Miedema, Little (C), Mead, Foord, McCabe
Substitutes: Marckese, Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Maritz, Maanum, Nobbs, Iwabuchi, Hurtig, Blackstenius
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