Women's Super League Tottenham Hotspur 0 Arsenal 3 Full time

Arsenal continued their resurgence under interim boss Renee Slegers with a comfortable win at Tottenham in the north London derby.

The in-form Gunners have now won five and drawn one in all competitions since the Dutchwoman took charge following Jonas Eidevall's resignation last month.

They made a made a perfect start at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Alessia Russo fired into the corner after just 63 seconds for her fifth goal of the season.

Frida Maanum then capitalised on more slack defending from the hosts in the 22nd minute to drill home Arsenal's second from inside the area.

Substitute Stina Blackstenius finished off a lovely flowing move to make it 3-0 midway through the second half.

Arsenal were beaten by Spurs last season and when asked if that helped fuel motivation, Slegers said: "It was for them. The players have been talking about it, we want to stay in the moment, the players had some extra fire.

"Alessia scoring early helped us big time, we're very happy with the start of the game.

"It's very positive and it means a lot for staff and fans. People are smiling and I'm happy with what's happening at the moment."

Despite the win Arsenal stay in fourth place, one point behind Brighton after the Seagulls beat West Ham 3-2 in Saturday's early game.

Tottenham remain seventh and just four points off the bottom two after a fifth defeat in six games, conceding at least three goals in each of them.

Gunners exploit Tottenham's defensive woes

Spurs went into the game having won their last three matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, including the 1-0 victory in the north London derby last season.

But they never looked like making it four in a row after yet another awful start.

Having conceded after just 24 seconds against Manchester City last weekend, Spurs could only hold on for 39 more this time as forward Russo was left totally unmarked to volley across goal and into the bottom corner.

Maanum then had the freedom of north London to control Kim Little's pass just inside the area and stroke the ball beyond Rebecca Spencer to put the visitors in control.

Robert Vilahamn's side have now conceded a league-high 21 goals in their eight WSL matches this season, with no team letting in more in the opening 15 minutes.

They belatedly fought their way back into the game as the half progressed and came close to a reply when Beth England's stinging drive from distance was tipped over by Daphne van Domselaar.

"When you receive an early goal it can affect you mentally," said Vilahamn.

"We didn't deal with it well enough. In the first half we used a five but they scored and we didn't get close to them.

"It was a mixture of tactics and Arsenal being good. The players showed bravery and we tried to press. We still have it in us, we need to find ways to play against the top three because right now we can't."

Leah Williamson, making her 150th WSL appearance for Arsenal, then did well to head clear a searching free-kick with England lurking at the far post.

Tottenham switched to a back five at half-time to try to tighten up defensively, but they were completely opened up again for Arsenal's third goal.

Mariona Caldentey's brilliant first-time pass sent Blackstenius clean through and the Sweden forward calmly finished low past Spencer.

Interim boss Slegers has been coy over suggestions she could take the job on a permanent basis, but she is doing her chances no harm with each game.

For Tottenham there is some mitigation for their poor form, with their five recent defeats all against last season's WSL top five.

Vilahamn will hope forthcoming games against the current bottom three will allow them to restore some confidence and halt that poor run.