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Arsenal cruised to their sixth successive league victory against the relegation-battling Crystal Palace with a controlled victory in the Women’s Super League.
Beth Mead took the headlines with a superb brace while a first-half finish from Alessia Russo and an own goal from Allyson Swaby completed a dominant afternoon for Renée Slegers’s side.
From the outset this encounter was a huge ask of Crystal Palace, who continue to prop up the WSL table. Leif Smerud, the manager, seemed to relish their role as underdogs but, having paid a visit to the Emirates Stadium to watch Arsenal’s Women’s Champions League comeback on Wednesday, the Norwegian will have been well aware of the challenges that lay in wait.
For Arsenal’s form continues to catch the eye and they arrived in Sutton on the back of another confidence-building week. With this result, they returned to second in the league having reached the WCL semi-finals after a remarkable comeback against Real Madrid. Since Slegers took charge in October, they have caught the eye with their attacking flair and, before kick-off, had scored 25 goals in 2025, seven more than any other side in the division.
The Arsenal manager opted for three changes from Wednesday. The USA international Jenna Nighswonger received her first league start since making the move to north London in January with Katie McCabe missing through suspension. Mead meanwhile returned to the starting lineup and Lia Wälti partnered Mariona Caldentey in midfield.
Smerud made three changes himself, opting for experience as he tried to shore up the Eagles’ defensive capabilities. Chloe Arthur returned to the heart of their midfield in place of Lexi Potter. With Clarissa Larisey absent, Molly-Mae Sharpe took up her usual role upfront while Hayley Nolan came into the backline.
Spring was in the air in Sutton with a crowd of 2,885 present. The visitors dominated in front of their buoyant travelling contingent. The away end was a constant cacophony of noise and sea of colour as they worked their way through the songbook twirling their red and white scarves in the air.
With the midweek cobwebs shaken off, the visitors began to control the ball as they worked to find the spaces through a compact and diligent Palace midfield. In the past, Arsenal have struggled to break down such an opposition but an early goal was the antidote for any potential heightened nerves.
The breakthrough came in the 14th minute with a sweeping move with Chloe Kelly breaking at pace. Beating Swaby, she cut the ball back with an expert delivery to find the run of Mead in the box. The England international opened her body to strike the ball with her left foot, her sublime volley marking her 50th league goal in an Arsenal shirt.
The hosts had several opportunities on the transition following the opener – Ashleigh Weerden saw an effort deflected and Katie Stengel sent a curling shot over the bar – but they struggled to really trouble Daphne van Domselaar.
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Meanwhile, the intensity of the visitors’ press continued and led to their second goal. Caldentey has been a revelation as a deep midfielder in recent matches and it was her energy that forced an error by My Cato. With the ball running into the path of Russo, there was only going to be one outcome, the striker sending a shot home for her 11th of the season.
The second half continued in much the same vein. While Palace defended valiantly at times, they did little to affect the outcome as Arsenal remained in command. The visitors added a third after a driving run from Kelly led to Swaby diverting the ball unwittingly into her own net before a trademark cross/shot from Mead rounded off the afternoon in injury time.
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Arsenal celebrated joyously with their fans after another impressive week in which they won three, scored 11 and conceded none. For Palace, however, there is work to do. This encounter was always going to be difficult but their problems continue to mount.
With Aston Villa beating Liverpool, the Eagles are now four points adrift at the bottom with a mountain to climb. Bob Marley singing “everything’s gonna be alright” which filled the stadium seemed slightly optimistic with things becoming increasingly desperate ahead of the season’s run-in.
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