Tottenham manager Martin Ho hailed Arsenal because the ‘best team on the planet’ after a one-sided north London derby within the Women’s Super League.
The Gunners secured north London bragging rights and moved as much as second within the WSL with an emphatic 5-2 win over Spurs on Saturday.
Alessia Russo scored twice within the opening seven minutes on the Emirates Stadium on her option to an excellent first-half hat-trick.
Tottenham still had hope at half time after Arsenal’s Frida Maanum headed into her own net but Caitlin Foord put the result beyond doubt with the hosts’ fourth on the hour mark.
Beth England scored a consolation goal for Spurs before Arsenal netted a fifth in injury-time through Stina Blackstenius.
The derby win sends Arsenal above Manchester United and Chelsea and into second within the Women’s Super League table, though they continue to be 11 points behind champions-elect Manchester City.
Arsenal also missed out on the WSL title last season – ending 12 points behind Chelsea – but Spurs boss Ho nevertheless views the Gunners because the ‘best on the planet’.
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Renee Slegers’ Arsenal have one foot within the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Chelsea 3-1 in the primary leg last week.
Arsenal are the defending champions having beaten Barcelona in last season’s Women’s Champions League final to win the competition for the second time.
‘You come to the very best on the planet if we’re honest in regards to the team, who they’re and what they’ve achieved during the last six to 12 months, and we pushed them back for big moments,’ Ho said after Tottenham’s 5-2 defeat.
‘[In the] first half, we conceded two quick goals and that dented us. By doing that, it makes it difficult so that you can get back into the sport and with small individual passes, we have now to be higher at that as players.
‘For the Lize [Kop] one, I ask her to play a certain way and search for certain passes. Once they occur, that’s my accountability and my responsibility.
‘I believed we then got back into the sport, we got a goal, after which it goes into the second half where we conceded a extremely low cost goal again, which makes it 4-1.
‘We ward off, Bethany gets a goal, really good finish, that’s 4-2. Then we were pushing the sport, we make one other individual error and we get punished.
‘I feel like each time we make one in the mean time, the ball’s entering into the web.’
Asked if the opening ten minutes of the sport proved to be the decisive moment within the match, Ho added: ‘Yes, once you give two goals away like we have now in those moments, you’re going to get punished for them.
‘They’ve world-class players after which it gives you a little bit of a mountain to climb at times. I believed we got here back into at 2-1, the sport was within the balance and the third goes and that form of then turns it back of their favour.
‘Small moments possibly change games and provide you with momentum. We just have to take a look at it, assess it, put it behind us after which deal with the Chelsea game going forward.
‘We will take lots from it when it comes to with the ball and enormous parts of the press without the ball. Our performance, if we take out a number of the individual parts, the sport would change.
‘We have now to be certain that we try this because we don’t need to be a team and I don’t need to be a coach who concedes five goals a game. We’re not going to be doing that moving forward.’
Arsenal boss Slegers, meanwhile, singles out hat-trick hero Russo for praise after the north London derby win.
‘In training, she is communicating more and instructing more, driving the team more by being more vocal,’ she told Sky Sports. ‘You may see that she’s stepping up.
‘She can also be a part of the leadership group at Arsenal now. She is all the time herself, wanting to bring her best version, and he or she could be very humble. She’s definitely developing that and we like to see it.’
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