Relief for Slegers as Russo rescues Arsenal against Tottenham in WSL

Alessia Russo’s contentious second-half penalty delivered relief, a reprieve and a chance for a reset as Arsenal came from a goal down to earn their second win of the WSL season in the north London derby.

At a rain-lashed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Gunners were again their own worst enemy, forced to come from behind after Cathinka Tandberg’s headed opener. Georgia Stanway levelled and Russo powered in the penalty that gave them the lead they protected defiantly.

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The Tottenham manager, Martin Ho, queried the penalty decision, with the ball hitting the raised arm of substitute Ella Morris from the clearance of one of her teammates. “My interpretation of the rule is if your teammate hits it and it hits your player, if you’re one yard away, the time and distance is taken into account, so there’s no penalty,” he said. “That’s my understanding of it, from when we were told to start the season. I want to understand what they’re saying, because then I can accept the decision.

“I don’t want the game to be about that, but when it decides a game it’s frustrating because it’s not within the law of the game.”

Arsenal’s manager, Renée Slegers, said she was glad to give the fans a win. “They sing us and fight us through the game,” she said. “At the end it’s scrappy, it’s game management and it’s scenarios, and they’re all with us.”

With the pressure building on her and her players after five games without a win, at times it felt like they were trying to disprove the phrase “you can’t dig yourself out of a hole”.

Arsenal had looked a little shaky in the opening few minutes but they settled, built possession and started to pose a threat. A failure to carve out clearcut chances and capitalise on any period of dominance has been the running theme of their season. They lacked fight and there was sloppiness too, with too many overhit passes putting the ball out of play or giving away possession.

That the opener came from a Tottenham corner was unsurprising. Victoria Pelova swung the ball in and Tandberg rose above her two markers, Stanway and Emily Fox, who failed to even to jump and challenge, and headed home.

Spurs’ joy was short lived as Stanway made up for her marking error four minutes later by arriving to meet Russo’s cut back and powered the ball in off the crossbar.

After the break there was concern for Tottenham when Alice Sombath’s leg seemed to twist awkwardly as she stretched for the ball. The club’s record signing left on a stretcher to be replaced by Morris, who made her return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury towards the end of last season.

After the lengthy stoppage, Russo forced a huge save from Lize Kop as she attempted to turn in Caitlin Foord’s cross from close range, the forward putting her hands to her head and screaming in frustration at the missed opportunity.

It did not take long for that frustration to transform into elation. The resulting corner from Kyra Cooney-Cross was headed on by Leah Williamson at the near post and Lisa Baum’s effort came back off the post. Spurs’ clearance bounced off the raised arm of Morris and the referee pointed to the spot. Russo sent Kop the wrong way and drove the ball low into the corner.

Arsenal were clinging on as the final whistle loomed but they had “found their fight,” said Slegers. “We had a run of games where results haven’t been good enough. It was frustrating for everyone. I’m so happy we got to win on this occasion, in the north London derby, away from home in the rain and we showed that character in the team.

“This will definitely energise us. We need to back this up in the next couple of games.”