'Complete' Russo shines again with hat-trick in north London derby
Alessia Russo is proving that she's more than just a goalscorer
Arsenal returned to the WSL’s top three for the first time since January thanks to a 5-2 blitzing of Tottenham in Saturday’s north London derby.
For the second consecutive weekend, an England international chalked up an Emirates hat-trick for the Gunners in a five-star display against a London rival.
There were many positives to take from this Arsenal performance, but the star of the show was undoubtedly Alessia Russo, who followed up a player of the match performance against Chelsea in midweek with her first WSL hat-trick since March 2023.
Russo is a player who can sometimes feel like a victim of her own success. Described to Arseblog’s Tim Stillman by Renee Slegers as a “complete footballer”, it is this completeness that can sometimes be used against Russo when evaluating her against her peers. Part of the reason for this is that Russo has the unfortunate distinction of playing in the WSL in the same era as the likes of Bunny Shaw, Sam Kerr, and Vivianne Miedema. Another reason for this is due to how Russo is deployed.
To this end, Saturday’s match saw Russo deployed as a centre forward for just the fourth time in her last 12 starts. Russo has spent much of the season in the No 10 role, but regardless of her role on paper, Russo is known for her all-round abilities – no WSL centre forward has created more chances (27) this season than Russo (FotMob).
Given the praise Russo receives for these all-round qualities, it is easy to forget that she is a reliable goalscorer in her own right, something that she demonstrated on Saturday by notching her first hat-trick in an Arsenal shirt.
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