Alessia Russo joins elite Arsenal company after North London derby hat-trick

Arsenal's imperious form continues. On Saturday evening, in front of a bumper crowd at the Emirates, Renée Slegers' side smashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 in the North London derby. By the half hour mark, Alessia Russo had already scored a hat-trick, before Caitlin Foord marked her return with a goal and Stina Blackstenius made the points secure late on.

Nevertheless, it was Russo's 27 minute treble that rightly earned all the headlines. She became only the sixth women to score a hat-trick for Arsenal against Spurs, joining some elite company.

Arsenal women hat-trick scorers vs Tottenham Hotspur

The first two Arsenal women to score a hat-trick against Tottenham actually did so in the same game, a 10-0 victory in the London County Cup in Cheshunt 16 years ago. A lot has changed since then. More recently, this has been achieved by Daniëlle van de Donk, Lisa Evans and, most-recently prior to the weekend, the WSL's all-time record goal-scorer Vivianne Miedema.

The Dutchwomen, now of Manchester City, has 90 WSL goals to her name, of which 78 came during her time in North London. Well, Russo has taken her league tally to nine for the campaign and 55 overall but, at the rate she is going, Miedema's record could be in the 27 year old's sights.

Next up for Slegers' side, they will travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The Gunners will do so having won 3-1 in North London last Tuesday, in which Chloe Kelly scored an absolute screamer and Russo lashed home the crucial third.

Should they oust Sonia Bompastor's team, it would be Wolfsburg or Olympique Lyonnais Féminin who await in the last four. Meanwhile, Arsenal still have five WSL fixtures remaining, needing to continue their ongoing five-match winning streak to ensure they claim a top-three finish.

In the meantime, the Gunners will be in FA Cup action on Easter Sunday, hosting Brighton in the quarter-finals at Meadow Park.

Given that Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool are likely to make up the semi-final lineup, if the record 14-time winners are going to get their hands on the FA Cup for the first time since 2016, they're likely going to have to do so the hard way. With potentially as many as 11 fixtures still to play throughout April and May, Russo will be key to Arsenal's hopes of success.

The England international is the top scorer in this season's Champions League with eight, and might just be in the best form of her career.