Tottenham manager Martin Ho said refereeing in the women’s game has got worse after a controversial penalty saw his side beaten by Arsenal.

Spurs had taken an early lead through Cathinka Tandberg, but were quickly pegged back by Georgia Stanway’s equaliser. Arsenal then won it in the second half when referee Phoebe Cross pointed to the penalty spot after Ella Morris blocked Tandberg’s clearance with her raised hand.

However, the law states it is not a handball if a player is hit on the hand by a ball which has been played by a team-mate, unless the ball goes directly into the opponent’s goal. In this instance, an indirect free-kick is awarded.

Ho was left frustrated that his side were on the wrong end of that decision and hit out at the level of officiating in the Women’s Super League.

“I think it’s got worse, the refereeing has got worse than it was last year,” Ho said. “My interpretation of the rule is, if your team-mate hits it and your team-mate is one yard away, time and distance is taken into account and it’s not a penalty.

“That’s what we were told at the start of the season in the referee meeting. I asked the question of how is it [a penalty] from that distance and they couldn’t give me an answer on the pitch. I said I will come and speak to them after the game because I want to understand it, I want to understand what they’re seeing because then I can accept a decision that is there. When that decides a game it’s frustrating because it’s not within the law of the game.

“They have a hard enough job, I get it, but in games like this, when it’s decided on things like that and I thought the inconsistency throughout the game was the same.

“We just have to dust ourselves down. But it’s frustrating it’s decided on a decision like that when the rule is in black and white and we get told that at the start of the season.”

Asked what should be done to improve the level of refereeing, Ho added: “They need more support and more full-time [referees].

“I understand there is probably a rule where they can’t do more than one game on a weekend and that’s nothing against any of the referees but they’ve got an elite referee [fourth official Lisa Benn] on the side the pitch, for a big game, put them in the middle.

“I think that’s where they need more support, more training because when you look at most decisions that are going on, there’s a lot of controversy in a lot of games. We get two bookings in the first half but we have played being dragged back by the shirt by Arsenal players and we don’t get nothing. That’s probably the frustrating part.”

While it was a frustrating day for Ho, Arsenal secured a vital win that head coach Renée Slegers is hoping can kick-start their season.

It was evident in the way Leah Williamson sprinted across to the Arsenal fans at full time just how much this victory meant.

It was not pretty and it was not convincing. Arsenal still looked vulnerable in moments and struggled to create clear-cut chances aside from an Alessia Russo effort which was well saved by Lize Kop. Their first goal came from a long-range Stanway strike before Russo’s spot-kick.

Arsenal’s celebrations at full-time were wild and passionate and perhaps over the top at times, but it is a sign of where they currently are.

“You could see how the team responded and how they were with the fans,” Slegers said.

“It was pure joy and happiness that they got the reward and got it over the line for the fans. Of course, we want to capitalise on these emotions. It’s good that we go into a schedule of games where we can build on what we did today.”

Slegers’s persistence in playing Russo at No 10 rather than the No 9 remains puzzling, but her decision to bring Taylor Hinds into the starting line-up, who was arguably the best player on the pitch, at left-back proved shrewd.

It was not a vintage Arsenal performance by any stretch, but the result is crucial. With winnable games against Aston Villa and Liverpool to come, this has to be a springboard rather than a false dawn.