Gunners striker Beth Mead opens the scoring during the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium. PHOTO: LIAM ASMAN/SPP

IT was the rarest of rare: a north London derby in which the result wasn’t the most important thing.

As it was, Arsenal did win it – thwacking rivals Tottenham 4-0 to maintain their perfect start to the season in the Women’s Super League.

But it was the crowd at the Emirates Stadium that grabbed the headlines, and rightfully so.

Record ticket sales of 53,737 flashed up on the big screen overlooking the pitch, and while there were sold yet still empty seats – an equally impressive 47,367 fans thought to actually be in the stands – the previous WSL record of 38,262 which was set in 2019 when these two teams met at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had been smashed.

Either way Jonas Eidevall was happy with a packed stadium, especially as everyone had paid.

“Remember, it’s 50,000 sold tickets! It’s not giveaways, it’s not sold for a discounted price: it’s sold tickets,” the Gunners boss told the club’s officially website before kick-off.

“I think that’s really, really special because doing this in the way that the club has done it, means it’s sustainable.

“It shows that the interest is for real and the investment that we have as a team, but also what all the past generations and past teams before us have done to put us onto this stage here. It’s phenomenal.”

Eidevall had asked his players “to go out and make the most of it” – to play their part in making sure that large paying crowds are forever a frequent feature in women’s football. They listened, delivered and made sure the Arsenal supporters went home happy.

Beth Mead started the scoring within minutes of the opening whistle with her third league goal in two games, while Vivianne Miedema also bagged a brace. Sandwiched in between the Netherlands international’s double, Rafaelle Souza had also found the back of the net with a commanding header.

Roaring that north London is “always red!”, Miedema said: “It was unreal with all the fans here in the stadium, 53,000 I think it was. That’s the games you want to play in and that’s the games you want to win, and obviously that is against Tottenham with all the extra Arsenal fans.”