Russo's Hat-Trick Makes Her England's Top scorer in Women's Champions League
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Alessia Russo scored all three goals as Arsenal beat Benfica 3-0 on Wednesday at Meadow Park in the league phase of the Women’s Champions League, becoming the highest English goalscorer in the history of the competition.
The captain’s hat-trick — her tenth goal in her past seven matches — lifted Arsenal to second in the league-phase table and eased the pressure on head coach Renée Slegers after a start to the season that had drawn scrutiny. Benfica had gone close early, spurning a gilt-edged chance, before Arsenal took control. Olivia Smith set up Russo for a low shot that went narrowly wide, and Foord herself was denied a clear effort by a superb last-ditch challenge before the breakthrough came. Russo opened the scoring just before half-time with a fine finish after a well-worked move down the left, rose high to glance home a corner after the break, and completed the afternoon from the penalty spot after being brought down by Catarina Amado.
“She’s one of the leaders and she does it her way,” Slegers said. “She cares for everyone around her and connects well with her teammates. She leads the way as a role model, doing the right things consistently.” Slegers made three changes to freshen the side and had warned before kick-off that Benfica, unbeaten in domestic play before the tie under Ivan Baptista, possessed a strong identity.
The result matters most for what follows. Last season’s semi-finalists hold an unbeaten home record in the league phase, and the two wins over Tottenham in the league and Benfica in Europe have steadied the campaign before fixtures against Barcelona and OL Lyonnes.
Chelsea beat Roma 2-0 in the same round, Bayern Munich fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Real Madrid, and eight-time champions OL Lyonnes ran out 6-0 winners over Internazionale.