Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Victoria Pelova celebrateGetty Images
At a glance
Arsenal return to action with a win at London City Lionesses
Olivia Smith opens scoring before substitute Stina Blackstenius adds a second
Fourth-placed Gunners are now one point from the European qualification places, with London City seventh
PLAYER RATINGS
Adam Millington
BBC Sport journalist
Arsenal continued to apply pressure in the race to finish inside the Champions League qualification places with a win at London City Lionesses.
Goals in either half proved the difference, with Olivia Smith rounding off a scrappy move to open the scoring in the 15th minute, before substitute Stina Blackstenius put the result beyond doubt in the second half.
Smith scuffed an opener past home keeper Elene Lete to make the most of Arsenal's early pressure, taking advantage after London City switched off at the back and allowed a Chloe Kelly delivery to trickle into the box.
Swedish striker Blackstenius then combined well with Alessia Russo in the 76th minute to ease any potential nerves, slotting into the bottom from close range following a clever run from the England forward to set her up.
London City did little to concern Arsenal goalkeeper Anneke Borbe as they made errors and struggled to build up possession.
While the visitors were far from perfect and arguably did not make the most of their control, the result rarely looked to be in doubt.
Victory left them just one point from third-placed Chelsea - and two points off second-placed Manchester United - with a game in hand.
London City are seventh, but trail fifth-placed Tottenham by 10 points.
Analysis: Dominant Gunners make positive return
A ninth victory of the campaign and another clean sheet will please Arsenal boss Renee Slegers.
Despite being without Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord, who are both currently representing Australia at the Asian Cup, they barely had to get out of second gear to overcome London City.
The hosts tried to make an impression but their positive moments were scarce, limited to attempting to attack Arsenal without being able to produce much at the end of their moves.
There were some good signs for London City when players began to come off the bench, but they remained firmly second-best.
Tricky conditions on Sunday had an impact on the game, with strong winds making long balls unpredictable and neutering any attempts to create trouble in the air from set-pieces.
The lack of recent league football, with no WSL games having been played in the past month following FA Cup action and an international break, will also have stunted Arsenal's momentum.
Winning in a convincing fashion given those factors is promising, although the Gunners will likely feel the margin of victory should have been more comfortable.
They had 12 shots, but only hit the target with the two that resulted in goals. They controlled the ball, having 58.5% possession, but were unable to find a way to translate that into causing too many issues for Lete in the home goal.
While this was far from their best display, getting back to form as the end of the season approaches was important.
They do not have to play any of the top three left in league action and have two games in hand on leaders Manchester City, who are 11 points clear of them. The title is all but mathematically out of their reach, but qualifying for Europe is in their hands.
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Player of the match
A. Russo
8.89
London City Lionesses
Arsenal
14F. Godfrey
6.86
10D. van de Donk
6.11
3P. Pattinson
5.71
20D. Cascarino
5.50
77Elene Lete
4.85
5T. Goldie
4.79
9K. Asllani
4.67
23I. Goodwin
4.42
15S. Franssi
4.25
2Jana Fernández
4.23
30M. Marcetto
4.00
16J. Roddar
3.80
26W. Sangaré
3.67
7Lucía Corrales
3.67
88G. Geyoro
3.64
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23A. Russo
8.89
15O. Smith
8.22
25S. Blackstenius
8.21
9B. Mead
8.08
6L. Williamson
8.06
3L. Wubben-Moy
8.02
11K. McCabe
7.90
2E. Fox
7.83
18C. Kelly
7.82
28A. Borbe
7.72
10K. Little
7.69
8Mariona Caldentey
7.60
21V. Pelova
7.47
24T. Hinds
7.21
12F. Maanum
7.20
5Laia Codina
7.15
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After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
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