Alessia Russo celebrates scoring against Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday [Emily Bittarello/SPP]

IT has been a pressure-easing week for Arsenal boss Renee Slegers, and bang in the heart of the much-needed revival is Alessia Russo.

The unstoppable striker hit a hat-trick against Benfica at Meadow Park on Wednesday night to become England’s all-time leading goalscorer in the Women’s Champions League.

The timely treble came hot on the heels of Russo’s match-winning penalty against Tottenham on Saturday, when the Gunners came from behind to win the north London derby 2-1 in the Women’s Super League.

Slegers described Russo as an “amazing role model” following the 3-0 win over Benfica.

Fittingly, Arsenal’s No 23 has now scored 23 goals in Europe, and Slegers said: “She was captaining the team, she’s an amazing role model, and she’s a fantastic human being who cares for everything and everyone. It was an amazing night for her, and I’m really pleased.

“She works her heart out out of possession, she’s a team player and she has the quality going forward to decide the game for us. It was a great night for Alessia and a fantastic record.”
Facing the media after her finishing masterclass, Russo said: “After the weekend against Spurs, we wanted to come out and back it up, and we did that. I think we built on it even more tonight.

“It feels really nice [to get the record]. I love playing in the Champions League and I love scoring goals, so to have them combined is really nice. Hopefully [there will be] more and more special memories in the Champions League.”

Russo’s record wasn’t the only big achievement of the night, with Arsenal also racking up 200 goals and counting during Slegers’ two-year reign.

Slegers has found herself under mounting pressure following Arsenal’s stuttering start to the season – which has left the club languishing mid-table in the league, having managed just one win in six outings prior to the north London derby.

Slegers is now hoping that the back-to-back wins over Tottenham and Benfica will propel the club towards more silverware.

She said: “That’s a lot of goals, 200! That’s great, of course. But we want to back it up and we want to go for more.

“I think these were two really good performances; five goals scored in two games, and we want to score more goals.”

No player has scored more of those 200 goals than Russo, who only had positive words to say about her manager.

“200 goals is a great achievement,” she said. “I think she instils a lot of confidence in us as attackers. She wants us to be free, enjoy creating and shooting and scoring.

“She definitely tries to drive that in training and in games, so she gives us confidence to go out there and take shots when maybe we would second guess it. I think that’s important with a manager, to know that they trust you, and they want you to play with your instincts as well, especially in the final third.”