It's fair to say that Alessia Russo's early season woes are behind her. After failing to score in any of her first five games in the Women's Super League, as part of an eight-game drought, the Arsenal striker netted her eighth goal in her last eight games for the club on Sunday, to secure an important 1-0 win over Liverpool. On a weekend of shocks in the WSL, the priority for the Gunners was three points, and they got them thanks to the quick reactions of their centre forward.
It's not been an easy start to the new campaign for the north London outfit. Defeat to Chelsea in mid-October meant Arsenal had won just two of their last seven games, prompting under-pressure head coach Jonas Eidevall to step down from his role. With five points from their first five league games, their title ambitions had been dealt a huge hit.
But things have improved under interim boss Renee Slegers. Nine wins from 10 have lifted the Gunners back into the European places and given them a chance of having a say in the title race, if indeed Chelsea and Manchester City slip up again, as both did this weekend. There are a lot of reasons why the team has enjoyed an upturn in form in this two-month stretch and the goal-scoring of Russo, who only broke her WSL duck six weeks ago, is certainly one of them.