Historic north London derby win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium!

Martha Thomas fired us to our first-ever victory over Arsenal Women on an historic day at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Having withstood the Gunners' pressure and had a couple of half-chances ourselves, we took the lead 13 minutes into the second half when Thomas finished a slick move that left the visitors completely outfoxed.

We defended superbly for the remainder of the game, goalkeeper Barbora Votikova in excellent form on her first Women's Super League start, and we could have added a second right at the end of an extended spell of added time when we broke away following one of a number of Arsenal corners, but substitute Rosella Ayane saw her shot towards the empty net blocked. Nevertheless, it was an outstanding all-round display against one of the WSL's long-established top sides and means we go into the festive break with a satisfying result, as we ended our five-game winless league run in the best way possible.

Robert Vilahamn largely stuck with the same formula that yielded a point at Arsenal in the Conti Cup in midweek, captain Bethany England coming in for Jessica Naz in the only change to the starting XI, but we had to be resilient in the face of some heavy Gunners pressure, particularly from the wide areas as they sent some dangerous crosses into our box and tried a handful of angled shots, but nothing that could get past Votikova.

England's early attempt was routinely stopped by Manuela Zinsberger but the Gunners soon started creating chances, Alessia Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy going close with headers before Caitlin Foord struck the far post following an attack down the left. Celin Bizet managed to fashion a couple of useful balls into the box from the right flank as we started to find our way forward but the visitors were always a threat and after Foord's angled shot narrowly missed the target, Frida Maanum headed wide and then coaxed a fine save out of Votikova, who subsequently denied Victoria Pelova in the run-up to half-time.

It was more of the same after the restart as Maanum's shot was superbly saved and Alessia Russo headed wide, while a great block from centre-back Molly Bartrip denied Beth Mead. Crucially, though, we remained solid and in the 58th minute, stunned the visitors with a well-worked opening goal, Thomas fizzing the ball out to Bizet on the right, who showed great vision to find Thomas arriving at the edge of the box with the latter sliding low into the net.

Russo's acrobatic effort didn't truly trouble Votikova as Arsenal tried to respond, with Amy Turner, Ashleigh Neville and Angharad James all making superb blocks and defensive interventions over the remainder of the contest. Votikova, booked earlier for timewasting, claimed an angled effort from substitute Kyra Cooney-Cross while Foord couldn't quite connect with a header in the centre of the box and Amanda Ilestedt nodded over the bar from a corner.

However, after weathering all of Arsenal's pressure over more than 11 minutes of added time, we had a golden chance to score ourselves in the last few seconds when Jessica Naz set fellow substitute Ayane free on the counter-attack following a corner which goalkeeper Zinsberger had gone up to contest, but the forward's effort towards the empty net was somehow blocked. It mattered not, though, as the final whistle sounded straight away, much to the delight of the home crowd!

Match data

Goal: Spurs - Thomas 58.

Yellow cards: Spurs - Votikova 70; Arsenal - Wubben-Moy 63.

Referee: Cheryl Foster.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Mild, 11 degrees.

Attendance: 19,480.