Arsenal Women 4-0 Tottenham Women: Vivianne Miedema scores brace in front of record WSL crowd

It was a day of broken records in the Emirates. The largest attendance ever for a Women’s Super League game. An eighth clean sheet in a row for Arsenal, the first in WSL history, and another win over Tottenham. Oh, and Beth Mead scored again.

This North London derby more than lived up to the hype. Arsenal had vowed to put on a show for their fans and they did not disappoint with goals from Mead, Rafaelle and a brace from Vivianne Miedema to seal a 4-0 win.

Arsenal sold 53,757 for this game. If all those cardholders had turned up, the club would have broken the record for the highest attendance ever for a domestic match in the UK. As it was, 47,367 was the official crowd.

Beth Mead celebrates after giving Arsenal the lead against Tottenham in the fifth minute

Miedema made it 2-0 of Arsenal against Tottenham when she found the net just before half time

A great performance by the club, but not enough to equal the record set by Dick Kerr Ladies in 1920. Their charity match against St Helen’s drew a crowd of 53,000 to Goodison Park, and a further 14,000 were locked outside.

It was enough to convince the FA that the popularity of women’s football posed a major threat to men’s football, leading to a 50-year suspension. It took the women’s game nearly 50 years to recover — and it still does. But days like today, after a record-breaking European Championship for women, are proof that women’s football is only getting stronger.

53,737 tickets were sold with a record WSL crowd of 47,367 fans at Emirates Stadium

The Arsenal players celebrate following Mead’s goal in the early stages of the match

But what this game also showed is that there is still a gap between the best and the rest of the WSL. Tottenham have made remarkable progress since Rehanne Skinner took the lead in November 2020, but they were second best here. Spurs’ tactics were to disrupt Arsenal’s free football with many nasty fouls in the opposing half. But they just couldn’t handle the pace and movement of the Gunners’ front three and their resistance lasted only five minutes.

They’d already been warned when Mead saw an attempt ricochet off the side, but they paid no attention. Mead came back in and after her first shot was blocked, the winger curled a sweet attack into the top right corner.

Spurs did improve after a shaky start and, despite having little possession of the ball, had limited Arsenal to just one shot on target. That was until they decided to self-destruct in the 44th minute. Goalkeeper Becky Spencer briefly sold Evelina Summanen with a pass from the back, allowing Caitlin Foord to rob her of the ball and knock off Miedema, who posted a finish in the bottom left corner.

Tottenham’s chances of a comeback seemed slim and 10 minutes after the break they became virtually impossible. Mead hovered in a corner from the right and Rafaelle rose highest to drive a bullet head into the top corner. That was basically game over, but Arsenal weren’t done yet. Mead played a short corner to Steph Catley, who hit an inviting cross into the penalty area and Miedema came in between Ashleigh Neville and Spencer to nod the ball into the net.

This was the first of six games for Jonas Eidevall’s side to play at the Emirates this season, with games against Manchester United and Chelsea already on sale. The other matches are likely to be in the Champions League, should Arsenal qualify for the group stage next week. The job is to make sure this wasn’t a one-off and that the fans who attended today can be lured back. Why wouldn’t they be after such a performance?

Rafaelle Souza is delighted after he made it 3-0 for Arsenal in the 54th minute with a goal

Miedema scored her second goal of the game with a header to make it 4-0 for Arsenal