Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham: Russo hat-trick settles north London derby

Alessia Russo’s hat-trick propelled Arsenal to a 5-2 derby win over Tottenham and into second place in the Women’s Super League.

Russo’s goals came in the space of 22 first-half minutes at the Emirates Stadium, where Caitlin Foord was also on target for the Gunners.

Arsenal went ahead in the fifth minute when Russo brilliantly headed in from Katie McCabe’s inswinging corner.

Russo doubled up two minutes later, rounding Spurs goalkeeper Lize Kop and finishing coolly.

Do you get deja vu?

Russo scores two in two minutes for a dream start to the derby pic.twitter.com/kFDiUOVr0B

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 28, 2026

Frida Maanum’s own goal halved Arsenal’s advantage, but Russo pounced on a dreadful mistake from Kop to make it 3-1.

Substitute Foord slammed home in the 61st minute, though Bethany England did mark her 200th WSL appearance with a fine finish.

However, deep in stoppage time, Victoria Pelova threaded through Stina Blackstenius, who made no mistake to cap off a five-star Arsenal display.

Data Debrief: Rampant Russo

Russo had eight shots, which remarkably matched the total managed by the entire Spurs team, with Arsenal registering 2.87 expected goals to the visitors’ 0.63 xG.

She got five of those on target, two more than the three managed by Spurs, as she netted her first league hat-trick for the Gunners.

In fact, all three of those attempts on target came via England, who only came on as a substitute in the 71st minute.

England is just the seventh player to hit 200 WSL appearances, while she has now moved clear of Beth Mead (18) for north London derby goals in the competition (19).