Tottenham manager Martin Ho hailed Arsenal as the ‘best team in the world’ after a one-sided north London derby in the Women’s Super League.
The Gunners secured north London bragging rights and moved up to second in the WSL with an emphatic 5-2 win over Spurs on Saturday.
Alessia Russo scored twice in the opening seven minutes at the Emirates Stadium on her way to a brilliant first-half hat-trick.
Tottenham still had hope at half time after Arsenal’s Frida Maanum headed into her own net but Caitlin Foord put the result beyond doubt with the hosts’ fourth on the hour mark.
Beth England scored a consolation goal for Spurs before Arsenal netted a fifth in injury-time through Stina Blackstenius.
The derby win sends Arsenal above Manchester United and Chelsea and into second in the Women’s Super League table, though they remain 11 points behind champions-elect Manchester City.
Arsenal also missed out on the WSL title last season – finishing 12 points behind Chelsea – but Spurs boss Ho nevertheless views the Gunners as the ‘best in the world’.
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Renee Slegers’ Arsenal have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg last week.
Arsenal are the defending champions having beaten Barcelona in last season’s Women’s Champions League final to win the competition for the second time.
‘You come to the best in the world if we’re honest about the team, who they are and what they’ve achieved over the last six to twelve months, and we pushed them back for large moments,’ Ho said after Tottenham’s 5-2 defeat.
‘[In the] first half, we conceded two quick goals and that dented us. By doing that, it makes it difficult for you to get back into the game and with small individual passes, we have to be better at that as players.
‘For the Lize [Kop] one, I ask her to play a certain way and look for certain passes. When they happen, that’s my accountability and my responsibility.
‘I thought we then got back into the game, we got a goal, and then it goes into the second half where we conceded a really cheap goal again, which makes it 4-1.
‘We push back, Bethany gets a goal, really good finish, that’s 4-2. Then we were pushing the game, we make another individual error and we get punished.
‘I feel like every time we make one at the moment, the ball’s going in the net.’
Asked if the opening ten minutes of the game proved to be the decisive moment in the match, Ho added: ‘Yes, when you give two goals away like we have in those moments, you’re going to get punished for them.
‘They have world-class players and then it gives you a bit of a mountain to climb at times. I thought we came back into at 2-1, the game was in the balance and the third goes and that kind of then turns it back in their favour.
‘Small moments maybe change games and give you momentum. We just have to look at it, assess it, put it behind us and then focus on the Chelsea game going forward.
‘We can take lots from it in terms of with the ball and large parts of the press without the ball. Our performance, if we take out some of the individual parts, the game would change.
‘We have to make sure we do that because we don’t want to be a team and I don’t want to be a coach who concedes five goals a game. We’re not going to be doing that moving forward.’
Arsenal boss Slegers, meanwhile, singles out hat-trick hero Russo for praise after the north London derby win.
‘In training, she is communicating more and instructing more, driving the team more by being more vocal,’ she told Sky Sports. ‘You can see that she’s stepping up.
‘She is also part of the leadership group at Arsenal now. She is always herself, wanting to bring her best version, and she is very humble. She’s definitely developing that and we love to see it.’
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