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Women's Football Arsenal open up a gap at the top while Emma Hayes celebrates 200 games in charge in style

ARSENAL eased to a dominant 4-0 win at Brighton to move three points clear at the top of the Women’s Super League.

Danielle van de Donk and Jill Roord put the Gunners in firm control at the break, with Jordan Nobbs and Beth Mead rounding off a fine win to pull ahead of Manchester City after their win over Everton on Saturday.

Arsenal needed just four minutes to take the lead. Van de Donk was picked out on the left-hand side by Leah Williamson’s cross-field ball before driving into the box, out-pacing the defender and slotting past goalkeeper Megan Walsh with her left foot.

The second goal came in the 31st minute and once again it was Williamson with the assist as she sent the ball from the left wing into Roord.

The Dutch midfielder was unmarked at the edge of the box and took one touch before picking out the bottom corner.

Nobbs made it 3-0 in the 51st minute after getting on the end of a Van de Donk cross, helped by a Vivianne Miedema dummy, taking a touch and firing it low and hard past Walsh.

Substitute Mead put the seal on the win in the 89th minute, poaching Arsenal’s fourth goal after Walsh fumbled the ball into the path of Kim Little, who knocked it back to Mead to put away.

Elsewhere, Chelsea came from behind to outclass Bristol City in a 6-1 victory, marking Emma Hayes’s 200th game in charge of the Blues in style.

A glimmer of hope from Tanya Oxtoby’s side came in the 15th minute, with Ebony Salmon capitalising on a loose ball to open the scoring.

An equaliser from Beth England in the 28th minute put Chelsea level with the Vixens. The England international beat Sophie Baggaley to the ball, heading into the back of the net.

The Blues continued to attack, netting a flurry of goals in the closing stages of the first half.

Defender Hannah Blundell worked well, scoring from close range in the 40th minute, and a scramble in the penalty box saw Jess Carter score her first goal for the Blues, shooting into the bottom right corner in the 45th minute.

Shortly after, Ji So-yun fired home from outside the box, two minutes into added time.

Chelsea increased their lead in the second half against a struggling Bristol, Ji grabbing her second in the 49th minute and England the same in the 82nd with a close-range header.

Finally, there was drama in the London derby as Rianna Dean’s stoppage-time header snatched Tottenham a 2-1 win against West Ham.

The Hammers thought they had secured a point when Kenza Dali finished neatly into the bottom right-hand corner in the 89th minute, but there was still time for Dean to grab a winner.

Both teams started the game brightly but it was Spurs who deservedly took the lead in the 30th minute.

Emma Mitchell, making her full debut after signing on loan from Arsenal, curled a shot inside the bottom left-hand corner from outside the box after the ball had been half-cleared following a corner.

Spurs winger Rosella Ayane, who caused the West Ham defence problems with her pace and direct running, hit the crossbar with a header 10 minutes later as Spurs finished the half on top.

Tottenham started to build pressure after the break and again came close in the 68th minute when the ball fell to Dean on the volley but it was well saved by West Ham goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.

Mitchell rocketed an effort inches wide of a post in the 85th minute and just four minutes later West Ham drew level through Dali’s smart finish.

The referee indicated nine minutes of added-time and West Ham came to life, nearly scrambling the ball home in the second minute of stoppage time but Tessel Middag could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper.

The Hammers were left to rue that chance as Spurs scored on the break in the last minute of added-time. Good running from substitute Angela Addison down the left found Dean in the box and she looped a header into the top left-hand corner.

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