Alessia Russo, Beth Mead on target as Arsenal thump Aston Villa

Updated: Dec 8, 2024, 12:18 pm

LONDON -- Arsenal's unbeaten run under interim head coach Renée Slegers stretched to eight games on Sunday after they beat Aston Villa 4-0 in the Women's Super League (WSL) at Emirates Stadium.

Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and a brace from Alessia Russo secured Arsenal a victory that saw them leapfrog Manchester United into third place in the table. 

"We have to believe that [we can catch up to Chelsea and Manchester City], but obviously, we're happy that we're in the top three at the moment, but we won't settle for third place, of course, so we try and go for more," Slegers told a news conference.

"And thats the same in the Champions League group. We want to go for the first place there as well. So we're not settling, we're not happy yet, but obviously a good step."

Russo opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 17th minute when she headed Kyra Cooney-Cross' free-kick past former Arsenal goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo.

Villa struggled to effectively press Arsenal and were unable to hold up against the repeated waves of Arsenal attacks. With Cooney-Cross replacing injured Lia Wälti, Arsenal were able to play Mariona Caldentey and Frida Maanum forward, keeping the Australian deep.

Arsenal's press, however, proved dangerous and bore fruit when Maanum's shot rebounded off the post into the path of Mead who turned the ball home in the 39th minute.

Arsenal earned a comfortable victory over Aston Villa in north London on Sunday.
Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Villa looked as if they would get on the scoresheet in the 57th minute before Chasity Grant's shot toward goal was superbly blocked by Steph Catley.

Blackstenius scored Arsenal's third in the 70th minute with a right footed shot into the bottom left corner from the centre of the box.

Russo scored her second, and Arsenal's fourth, after bullying the defender to reach the ball first and finishing with a superb volley into the top right corner in second half stoppage time.

"I think the ruthlessness that we show today again and the control we have, even though we have to defend a little bit, I think we do that really, really well and we put a lot of value in that," Slegers said.

Arsenal have now won four of their five WSL games under Slegers, surpassing the number of victories they managed in their final seven league matches under former manager Jonas Eidevall last season.

Villa sit 9th in a congested bottom half of the WSL table with six points from nine games, while third-placed Arsenal trail league leaders Chelsea by nine points.