Arsenal Women delivered a ruthless second-half performance to thrash West Ham United 5-1 in Dagenham, coming from behind for the second week in succession to underline their title credentials.
The hosts were gifted an unlikely lead inside five minutes when goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar fumbled a routine cross from Shekiera Martinez into her own net.
Arsenal equalised through Frida Maanum, who scored midway through the first half after fine work from Beth Mead, before overwhelming West Ham after the break.
Half-time substitute Stina Blackstenius curled home a superb strike just seven minutes into the second half, Caitlin Foord marked her 100th WSL appearance with a towering header from a Mariona Caldentey corner after an earlier effort had been ruled out for offside, and Alessia Russo struck twice in the closing stages, first with a banger from range and then from the penalty spot after Olivia Smith was fouled.
After the game, manager Renee Slegers praised her side’s composure after another early setback. “It was a hard game today,” she said.
“It’s a very physical opponent, very disciplined. They make it really, really hard and they have some quality up top.
“So I think intensity was high and it was a hard game for us to play. So again we had to be calm, composed, wear down, be confident that things can happen early or late,” she added.
“What I’m really happy with today again is the team performance.
“We have starters, we have finishers. There’s so many players contributing, I think four different goal scorers, players coming on, having such an important impact. So, yeah, I’m really happy for the team.”
Russo, who was named Player of the Match, highlighted the squad depth that is already proving decisive. “We spoke a lot in pre-season about being consistent and that’s what we want to do. I think we’ve started really well. We want to keep pushing on,” she said.
“We know that we have the quality, we know that we’ll get the chances. And yes, the bounce back after we conceded the first goal tonight was really positive.
“I think we have an amazing squad and you can see starters, people that come on, people that finish the game.
“Our whole squad is massive and anyone is ready to step up for their moment and that’s what’s really important. That’s what you need to win titles and win trophies.”
Arsenal have now scored 68 goals in their last 12 league games, and with four different scorers in Dagenham, the variety of attacking threats available to Slegers was evident again.
Next up for the Gunners is another way trip, this time to Manchester United on Sunday, 21 September.