Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s report.
Chloe Kelly spoke to the BBC: ““It felt amazing in front of unbelievable support today. Since I stepped into this club, I have felt a warm welcome. And what a game to do it in the North London derby. I felt myself on the pitch today. It’s been an easy transition for me. It’s been easy to walk into this dressing room with unbelievable players and the staff.”
The earlier game saw Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 3-1, keeping them above Arsenal in the table.
Full-time: Arsenal 5-0 Tottenham
A derby-day destruction and no mistake. In front of a huge crowd, too, with Alessia Russo snaffling two. Fox’s goal completed the rout on the event of Chloe Kelly’s homecoming.
90+3 min: Kelly’s special moment? She dances to the byline, cuts in but the ball is taken away, just as she shapes to shoot.
90+1 min: Four minutes of celebration/pain were added on.
Goal! Arsenal 5-0 Tottenham (Fox, 90)
It’s a long-range beauty from the edge of the box, whistling in. Fox, the American, has scored her first ever WSL goal.
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89 min: Alessia Russo is awarded player of the match. It’s become a little ceremonial, this game but it was Russo who took the game to Spurs.
87 min: Off goes Caldeney and it’s a WSL debut for Jenna Nighswonger. Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse.
86 min: Applause as Kelly takes a corner from the left side and Kop – who has had a decent game – claims it well.
85 min: Kelly is out on the right wing, where much of the play has migrated, and Arsenal have a corner on that side.
82 min: Chloe Kelly is still looking for that chance to shine on her return.
80 min: Beth England, who has carried her bat today, forces a save from Daphne van Domselaar. Is it fair to say Spurs have been better this half, without that counting for much?
78 min: Kelly’s cross, Russo and Blackstenius rather get in each other’s way. Kim Little gets her first involvement.
76 min: Two Gunners changes: Laia Codina and Kim Little replace Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross. The latter delivered that fine cross for the opening goal. So full of talent, this Arsenal squad.
74 min: The crowd is announced: 56, 784. Bigger than expected. Build it, they will come. Welcome.
73 min: Spurs change: off goes Neville, who’s had a hard day on her 100th appearance for Morris.
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71 min: McCabe, always looking to raid as full-back, head the ball down and Kop goes down again, injured. She’s probably dog-tired, too, from overwork.
69 min: Kelly tries a drop of the shoulder but cuts back and plays it into a queue of waiting Arsenal attackers. They want five. Beth England, a forward, is back fighting for the ball for Tottenham.
67 min: Lovely turn from Blackstenius, who spins Bartrip, who then does just enough to stop the Swede’s shot.
66 min: Saka-watch: he’s taken off the shades, and is now wearing some fetching black-rimmed specs.
Tottenham win a corner and have a shot!
64 min: McCabe has to knock behind from Martha Thomas and van Domselaar makes a fine save from Drew Spence.
62 min: Early chance for Blackstenius after a long ball from Caldentey, but Kop is able to collect the ball. Not enough purchase on it.
Here comes Chloe Kelly
60 min: Arsenal make their subs. Chloe Kelly comes on to make her first appearance for Arsenal since 2017. On comes Blackstenius, too. Frida Maanum and Caitlin Foord and depart. They’ve done their jobs today.
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59 min: Two Spurs changes: Drew Spence and Martha Thomas come on to try and lessen the punishment.
Goal! Arsenal 4-0 Tottenham (Russo, 58)
Tottenham engage the high press. Fatally. They lose the ball and Foord drives on, and plays in Russo to slot home. Great goal Arsenal, oh no, Tottenham.
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56 min: Tottenham have been poor, it has to be said. There’s sympathies, as Arsenal are so full of quality but they have had little to face down.
54 min: Chloe Kelly is imminent….
52 min: There’s an argument to say Claire Hunt’s scored two own-goals. She’s had a bad day. Let’s give the goals to the attackers, though.
Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham (Maanum, 51)
Foord’s pass, Maanum’s shot comes off the unfortunate Hunt and Kop is deceived by the flight of the ball.
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51 min: Nilden is booked for pulling down an escaped Foord. This could get ugly.
50 min: Kop makes a fine save as Russo shoots, following Neville’s careless concession of possession.
48 min: More Arsenal, more hurried Tottenham defending. Maanum sends away Russo, Hunt giving chase but the ball into the middle finds nobody.
Back away we go at the Emirates
46 min: No changes so far. Though Tottenham really need something to change. Arsenal begin on the front foot. Russo speeds past Hunt, who can only bring her down.
Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham
It feels like Tottenham could be playing this North London derby forever and fail to land a blow. Arsenal have been so superior to the point that they will be annoyed they haven’t scored more.
45 min: Williamson, Maanum and then Russo – that combo sets up a header wide from the goalscorer. Two minutes are added on for Spurs to suffer through.
43 min: Maanum tries a backheel at the near post from the latest corner. They win another one as a result: Arsenal, of course. McCabe drifts the next one in and Maanum this time heads over. It came off Hunt perhaps. Hunt’s been on the crime scene an awful lot today.
41 min: The next objective for Tottenham is not to concede more. They are back in heavy numbers.
39 min: There’s a real gap between these teams. It’s ached at times. Tottenham have a long way to go to breach that top four. Camping on their goalline hasn’t worked but it might well have been the only course of action.
37 min: First yellow card. Anna Csiki left one on Russo and the Tottenham player is punished.
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Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham (Caldentey, 35)
The pressure finally tells. Caldentey takes one shot, and then the rebound comes off Hunt and she has chance to shoot. Saka and MLS were up and celebrating. So was the dog.
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33 min: From a corner, Kop almost drops a rick but bails herself out. In the stands, Bukayo Saka in female and canine company, sits in shades. Myles Lewis-Skelly is there too.
32 min: Tottenham cough up two attempts for Arsenal to chase that second. It ends up with Kop scraping the ball behind, and Russo being denied.
30 min: It remains Arsenal all on the attack but with a little less threat. Neville and McCabe are throwing themselves into it, so that’s good.
27 min: Some dispute over the goal. PA Media say Hunt OG, while the WSL say Russo. Watching it again, Russo’s touch was going in. Does the WSL have a dubious goals committee? The Goal Accreditation Panel, it’s called in the Premier League.
25 min: Applause as Chloe Kelly begins her warm-up. She scores bangers. Meanwhile, the kiss of death on Lize Kop, who has gone down injured. It may be a ploy to help Spurs regroup but she seemed to rick herself making one of those many saves.
24 min: Arsenal seek that second goal. It can’t be long in coming. Kop makes a fine save from Foord’s hooked half-volley. Kop’s been playing well.
22 min: Foord gets away down the right after Maanum’s ball but the cross skews behind the goal.
20 min: The possession stats show Arsenal have had over 68% of the ball. But here’s a rare attack, with Nilden on the overlap before Leah Williamson supplies a captain’s assurance with her tackle.
19 min: All Arsenal now, Tottenham all at sea, Russo going close again.
17 min: Arsenal almost get a second when Bartrip plays a hospital ball to Foord. Raso, this time, sweeps up, but there’s real panic in that Spurs defence.
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham (Russo, 15)
There’s no stopping Russo, is there? Not against Tottenham. Raso slips and Cooney-Cross’s ball is a pearler, and with glancing header, Russo scores – via Hunt’s hip.
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14 min: A Neville foul on McCabe, and from the free-kick, it’s the same player who toe-bungs it over the bar when it comes out. Yes, toe-bungs.
13 min: Robert Vilahamn, the Spurs coach, is asking his team to push out with his gloved hands. It’s a cold day out there. Has been for weeks now. What with it being winter.
11 min: Tottenham keeper Kop makes a fine claim from a Gunners corner.
10 min: Arsenal pick up the pace. Tottenham defending deep on their six-yard line.
8 min: Foord’s flick almost finds Russo, who turns and Hunt does well to stop anhy shot coming in.
7 min: Williamson is robbed by an alert England. Raso speeds away and Cooney-Cross is forced to foul. The free-kick, sadly, is a total waste from Oroz.
5 min: Arsenal’s build-up play is rather slower than Tottenham’s. Patience a virtue? Foord eventually unleashes a shot that’s blocked. Tottenham will have to do plenty of blocking, by the looks of things.
3 min: Tottenham, with Beth England to the fore, out on the flank, have begun with intent.
2 min: Leah Williamson, playing her 250th appearance, plays the ball out from the back.
Away we go...
1 min: So, over 55,000 here, we are told. The knee is taken and the North London derby is live. Tottenham push up, and Oroz, from distance has a go. It flies well over.
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The players are coming out, with Leah Williamson at the centre of the festivities. Now here comes North London Forever. Whatever the wevver.
Arsenal manager Renee Slegers spoke to BBC Sport about Kelly’s return: “She has been a really good addition to the squad. She’s got fire inside her and she has been showing that in the training. Hopefully, you will see some of that on the pitch today.
“She has integrated easily and smoothly with the rest of the group. She already knew a lot of girls because of her spell with Arsenal before and also from the England squad. We have seen the quality that she can bring in the final third during training. I am also very impressed with her willingness to work hard in training.”
Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn spoke to the BBC: “We need to have a really strong defence today. We need to make sure we are very disciplined. We will get a few chances but we need to be sure that we are very clinical with that. We need to do it together today.”
Bad news for Arsenal is that Manchester United already have a 1-0 lead over Crystal Palace.
Yes, Chloe Kelly is on Arsenal’s bench with Kim Little. Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar and defenders Leah Williamson, Steph Catley and Emily Fox, all return. Lia Walti also comes back with January signing Jenna Nighswonger deserving a quiet night on the bench.
For Spurs, Martha Thomas and Josefine Rybrink drop to the bench, while Anna Csiki and Matilda Vinberg come in.
Confirmed - here are the teams
Arsenal: van Domselaar, Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe, Walti, Cooney-Cross, Russo, Maanum, Caldentey, Foord. Subs: Zinsberger, Codina, Ilestedt, Reid, Nighswonger, Little, Mead, Kelly, Blackstenius.
Tottenham Hotspur: Kop, Neville, Hunt, Bartrip, Nilden, Vinberg, Oroz, Raso, Csiki, Naz, England. Subs: Spencer, Grant, Morris, Buhler, Ahtinen, Rybrink, Spence, Holdt, Thomas.
We believe Chloe Kelly starts on the bench today.
Here’s the WSL table. The usual four are well clear. Chelsea are doing their usual – if better.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 13 | 32 | 37 |
| 2 | Man Utd Women | 13 | 19 | 30 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 13 | 20 | 27 |
| 4 | Man City Women | 13 | 12 | 25 |
| 5 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 13 | -3 | 18 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 13 | -7 | 17 |
| 7 | Liverpool FC Women | 13 | -7 | 15 |
| 8 | Everton Women | 13 | -9 | 13 |
| 9 | West Ham Women | 13 | -11 | 11 |
| 10 | Aston Villa Women | 13 | -9 | 10 |
| 11 | Leicester Women | 13 | -13 | 9 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace Women | 13 | -24 | 6 |
Jonathan Liew investigates why Tottenham’s women’s team are not competing as they might.
Preamble
If Chelsea stay beyond reach, still plenty to play for at Arsenal. Tottenham, less so, and we’ll get to that in a moment. Three points could be enough to see Arsenal overtake Manchester United in the table, and close the gap on league leaders Chelsea, though perhaps more realistically keep in the Champions League hunt. A crowd of 55,000 is expected at the Emirates, it’s a big day in north London.
Kick-off is at 12.30pm. Join me.
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