Renée Slegers conceded it is “hard at the moment” for Arsenal, after they failed to capitalise on the chance to move up to third place, dropping points for the fifth time this season in a 0-0 draw with their north London rivals Tottenham.
“We’re not getting the wins that we want at the moment and a club like Arsenal wants and needs to win,” Slegers said. “We see that there’s things we can do that will turn it around for us because we believe that we have all this quality. We did so well last year, that hasn’t just gone away all of a sudden.”
The Gunners desperately needed a win to maintain any pretence of being title contenders but, despite their dominance at the BetWright Stadium, they could not break through the well-marshalled Spurs defensive structure.
Arsenal’s title aspirations were dented last weekend by a frustrating 1-1 home draw with Chelsea, and their Champions League defence took a hit in midweek after a second‑half collapse saw them go from 2-0 up against Bayern Munich to lose 3-2. But results elsewhere across the weekend had fallen kindly with both Manchester United and Chelsea dropping points.
The atmosphere at the BetWright Stadium for this north London derby was electric, a record attendance of 6,788 set for Tottenham women at Leyton Orient’s ground.
This was the 12th meeting of the two north London sides in the Women’s Super League, with Arsenal claiming nine wins and Spurs just one. But, despite that dominant record, this fixture presented a big test for Arsenal with Spurs thriving under their new manager, Martin Ho, and level on points with their rivals going into this game.
That aided the intense environment, the stand of Arsenal fans behind Daphne van Domselaar’s goal embarking on a loud rendition of the anthem North London Forever shortly after kick-off before the home support attempted to drown them out. It felt like a derby of consequence, for perhaps the first time.
“If we want more fans to come and watch our games then we have to put in more performances like this,” Ho said. “The fans won’t ask for perfection, but they will ask for a team who work hard and play for the badge.”
The home team edged possession in the first half but Arsenal created more chances, though none were gilt-edged. Changes came for the visiting team at the break, earlier than usual, Beth Mead and Katie McCabe switched out for the summer signings Taylor Hinds and Olivia Smith.
Smith’s impact was instant, her pace troubling the left‑back Amanda Nildén and her powerful strike from a tight angle testing Lize Kop in goal.
It was all Arsenal in the second half as red shirts relentlessly pounded at the white wall but to no avail, big clear‑cut chances lacking.
A miserable trip to St Helens saw Chelsea drop two points for the third time this season, a 1-1 draw with Liverpool putting them four points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Despite beating their own 33-game record for the longest unbeaten run in WSL history, Sonia Bompastor’s side were frustrated in the north west. Alyssa Thompson’s ninth-minute curling effort gave the Blues an early lead against the team rooted to the bottom of the table, but Beata Olsson raced clear of England centre-back Millie Bright before converting past goalkeeper Livia Peng for the equaliser.
The visiting team dominated and pushed for a winner, but Aggie Beever-Jones was offside when she rounded Faye Kirby and put the ball in and they failed to register a shot on target beyond their opening goal.
West Ham earned a first win of the season, Anouk Denton, Amber Tysiak and Shekiera Martinez giving them a three goal cushion against Everton before Katja Snoeijs’s late consolation. The win moves the London team to within a point of Brian Sorensen’s side. Meanwhile, four different goalscorers helped Brighton to a 4-1 win over Leicester at the Amex to keep them seventh in the WSL table.
London City Lionesses recorded a comprehensive 3-1 defeat of Aston Villa. Kirsty Hanson had levelled for Villa following Saki Kumagai’s opener but Isobel Goodwin restored the visiting team’s lead before five-time European champion Kumagai added a third for the ambitious London side. Suzanne Wrack
Two major examinations await Arsenal next week as they host Real Madrid in the Champions League before welcoming Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium, with Gareth Taylor’s visitors boosted by a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.
Finding consistency is “the million dollar question that we try to answer every single day,” Slegers said. “The Champions League win showed how good we are when we’re at our very, very best. That’s something we need to keep on building on. How can we be consistently at our best? And how do we get things over the line when things are hard?”
