Alessia Russo’s scoring run continues with England brace

The Arsenal striker now has five goals in her last four appearances for club and country as England move on to face Ukraine.

Alessia Russo scored twice and Georgia Stanway was also on target as England beat Greece 5-0 on Tuesday to complete an 8-1 aggregate victory in their World Cup qualifying play-off.

Russo opened the scoring after only three minutes at the King Power Stadium, running on to a through ball from Lauren James before finishing to give England an early advantage.

The Arsenal striker added her second in the 75th minute after Keira Walsh released her, allowing Russo to round the goalkeeper and score again.

In between, Stanway had scored with her head to make it 3-0.

The result sends England through to face Ukraine over two legs in November, with a place at next summer’s tournament in Brazil at stake.

Russo’s double continued an impressive run in front of goal in October. She had also scored in Friday’s 3-1 first-leg victory in Crete, giving her three goals across the two matches against Greece.

Those goals followed strikes for Arsenal against Paris FC and Manchester City, meaning Russo has now scored five times in her past four appearances for club and country.

Her England total has risen to 33 goals in 69 appearances.

The run represents a sharp improvement after a quiet opening to the season.

Russo was still waiting for her first goal after Arsenal’s opening three Women’s Super League matches before finding the net against Paris FC on September 30 in the Champions League.

Four days later, she scored her first league goal of the campaign against Manchester City, finishing emphatically into the top corner to restore Arsenal’s lead temporarily.

With Birmingham City visiting the Emirates Stadium on October 17, Arsenal will hope Russo can carry that form back into domestic football.

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