Alessia Russo returned stateside with a bang on Sunday as she scored twice to earn Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Washington Spirit at Audi Field [Rebekah Wynkoop/SPP]

JONAS Eidevall was full of praise for his players following Arsenal’s strong start to pre-season on Sunday.

Alessia Russo shone in the sweltering heat as she bagged a brace to earn the Gunners a 2-1 victory over Washington Spirit in the first match of their US tour.

The striker smashed home the opening goal from close range to give Arsenal an early lead.

A crowd of 15,062 – the Spirit’s sixth-largest turnout in history – then saw the home side level the scores just before the break through Ouyleye Sarr.

The game remained a closely contested affair in the second half before new signing Rosa Kafaji came off the bench to mark her debut for the Gunners by setting up the winning goal. The Swedish forward pounced on a loose ball before playing a perfectly-weighted dink towards Russo, who rounded the keeper and slotted home.

“We wanted to start the season fast,” said Eidevall after the full-time whistle. “We wanted to get answers to the difficult questions we knew we were going to be posed today. How can we play in quite uncomfortable conditions?

“They reacted really well – that was so pleasing to see. We were playing against a good Washington Spirit team that really challenged us. The players have been phenomenal. I think they’re putting real intent and real focus into every single minute of every training session and every meeting. Let that be our standard. We can’t drop.”

For Russo the two-goal super show was the perfect way to add to what is already proving a nostalgic trip stateside.

Arsenal’s number 23 attended the University of North Carolina alongside Lotte Wubben-Moy and Emily Fox, and now she’s returned to the east coast a fully-fledged Gunner.

Reflecting on spending the ultimate away days with her teammates, Russo said: “It’s really nice to be back.

Everyone’s welcoming and warm, and we’ve had a lovely start to our trip so far.

“When you’re away for a while, you really get to know each other on and off the pitch. It’s great to have them all here.”

Eidevall named an exciting starting line-up against Washington Spirit led by skipper Kim Little, which included academy prospects Katie Reid, Freya Godfrey and Vivienne Lia. The Arsenal head coach said it was important that such future talents were given every chance to shine in a Gunners jersey.

He added: “I think when you are playing young players, what you’re trying to do is create an environment where they can be successful. That comes back to a one-team mentality of how we communicate, how we work together, and what our togetherness looks like on the pitch.

“These are players who have been up training with us regularly, getting exposure to the demands of playing with us, and I think what you saw today was a result of that.”

There will be a more familiar feel when Arsenal return to Audi Field this Sunday to face Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea.

The action gets under way at 9pm UK time and will be streamed live on Arsenal.com