Report: Arsenal 5-0 Bristol City.

City were beaten 5-0 by Arsenal in North London.

Lauren Smith made three changes to the side which started against Tottenham, with Lisa Evans, Jamie-Lee Napier and Sarah Stratigakis coming in for Abi Harrison, Shania Hayles and Sille Struck.

Rachel Furness made the bench for the first time in five months, returning after a lengthy lay-off due to a hamstring injury.

Stratigakis paired up with Emily Syme in the middle of her park, her first start since joining in January, as Amy Rodgers slotted into the back three alongside Brooke Aspin and Megan Connolly.

Beth Mead put The Gunners ahead early on, finishing from close range after Caitlin Foord rattled the post with a shot of her own.

City did well to build out from the back with some neat football, but were unable to trouble the Arsenal defence with any killer ball.

Aspin then showed her quality, throwing herself in front of Steph Catley’s effort to prevent the hosts from doubling their lead.

They took the subsequent corner short, finding Victoria Pelova whose effort from the edge of the area cannoned off the crossbar and behind for a goal-kick.

Fran Bentley made a smart stop, palming Alessia Russo’s powerful effort behind after the England international won the ball inside the area.

The City number one was at hand again soon after, getting down to her right to deny Russo once more with a good save at her near post.

Kim Little’s long-range strike then sailed just over Bentley’s goal as the hosts looked to double their advantage.

Mead got her and Arsenal's second just after the half-hour mark, slamming home from close range after a number of blocks.

The hosts got their third soon after in cruel fashion from a City perspective, with Steph Catley’s cross taking a wicked deflection and looping over Bentley into the far corner.

City squandered a great chance just before the break when Evans pounced on a loose back-pass and found herself one-on-one with Sabrina D’Angelo, but her cut-back towards Ffion Morgan was cut out by Leah Williamson.

The Robins had another good opportunity when Emily Syme latched onto Jamie-Lee Napier’s pinpoint through-ball before she was tackled with the ball dropping Thestrup, but City’s top-scorer couldn't add to her already impressive tally as her shot was well blocked.

Russo finally got the better of Bentley to get Arsenal’s fourth, firing into the top corner from the edge of the box before Bentley did well to deny Mead a hat-trick, punching her powerful effort away from danger.

City’s shot stopper then pulled off a ridiculous save, tipping Emily Fox’s goal bound effort over just as it seemed destined to nestle into the top corner.

Furness made her return to action, replacing Syme with twenty minutes remaining.

The final blow came after 73 minutes as Katie McCabe found Russo in space inside the City 18-yard box, and she rifled into the bottom corner to further extend The Gunners advantage.

TEAM: Bentley (GK), Powell (Bull 69’), Aspin, Connolly (c), Rodgers, Napier, Syme (Furness 69’), Stratigakis (Layzell 69’), Evans (Ward 78’), Thestrup, Morgan

Substitutes: Yanez (GK), Clark (GK), Jones, Slocombe.

Words: Kory Cook