Beth Mead played for the first time since suffering a knee ligament injury 11 months ago to inspire Arsenal to a dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Arsenal trailed heading into second-half stoppage time, but a powerful Katie McCabe strike was quickly followed by Mead assisting Alessia Russo for the winner, sparking jubilant scenes among the 35,829 supporters in north London.
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It marks Arsenal's first win of the Women's Super League season. Mead, the top scorer in England's triumphant European Championship campaign in 2022, last played competitively on Nov. 19 last year. Maz Pacheco had given Villa a first-half lead with a fine header from a corner.
Elsewhere, Liverpool's fine start to the Women's Super League season came to a shuddering halt on Sunday as Everton grabbed a 1-0 win in the Merseyside derby at Anfield, while Manchester City thrashed Bristol City 5-0 to lead the table.
Liverpool followed up an opening-day 1-0 win over Arsenal with a 2-0 defeat of Aston Villa last week, but Everton defender Megan Finnigan scored with a header from a corner in the 31st minute to hand them their first league defeat of the season.
That result saw the Reds slip to fifth spot after Manchester City's hammering of bottom side Bristol put them top with seven points after three games, one point ahead of Liverpool.
City blew newly-promoted Bristol away with a blistering opening 45 minutes that saw them score all five of their goals, with Jill Roord and Bunny Shaw each netting twice and fullback Laia Alexandri netting their other goal.
Everton's energetic performance in their first win of the season moves them up to eighth on three points, a point and a place behind Arsenal.
Leicester City are second on goal difference with seven points after a gritty 1-1 draw at Manchester United, who have five, while Tottenham Hotspur rose to fourth on six points after coming from a goal down to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 away.
Champions Chelsea are third on seven points after goals in each half from Sam Kerr and Erin Cuthbert gave them a comfortable 2-0 home win over West Ham United on Saturday.