Arsenal well and truly spoiled the party at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a 3-0 win over their north London rivals.
Goals from Caitlin Foord, Vivianne Miedema and Katie McCabe ensured the same outcome as the last meeting at the behemoth stadium two years ago, with Spurs still yet to score at the men’s ground.
The first couple of chances of the afternoon fell in quick succession to Danielle van de Donk but both efforts were tame and easy for Becky Spencer to gather.
With Manchester United winning at Old Trafford, the pressure was on the Gunners to stay in the race for Champions League football and they quickly gained momentum as Miedema hammered a shot into the side netting.
Spurs’ resistance lasted 20 minutes as Foord played a neat one-two with Noelle Maritz to get into a shooting position and then steered a low left-footed shot under Spencer.
Back in the side, Jordan Nobbs looked desperate to get on the scoresheet and forced a couple of acrobatic saves out of Spencer with her left foot.
And it was from one of those Nobbs shots that Arsenal earned a corner and their second as McCabe picked out Miedema 12 yards out to hook home a stunning volley.
It was one-way traffic again in the second half and McCabe put the game to bed when she pounced on a loose pass and found the bottom corner having misfired from a free-kick moments earlier.
Spurs introduced the experienced Rachel Williams with 20 minutes to play, and she helped create the hosts’ best chance of the afternoon but a reflex triple-save from Manuela Zinsberger.
Jill Roord came closest to extending Arsenal’s lead late on while Siri Worm struck a beauty of a free-kick with almost the last kick of the game but watched it sail just past the post.
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