West Ham United women’s team 0-2 Arsenal
Chigwell Construction Stadium, Barclays Women’s Super League, Sunday 20 October 2024, 3pm BST

A second-half penalty from Mariona Caldentey and a late Rosa Kafaji strike condemned West Ham United's women's team to a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Barclays Women's Super League on Sunday. 

After a goalless first-half at Chigwell Construction Stadium, the Hammers fell behind after 71 minutes following Caldentey's composed finish from the spot, before Kafaji confirmed maximum points for the Gunners in the closing stages after her drilled close-range effort from Stina Blackstenius' cutback. 

Having secured a historic first-ever victory over the Gunners last season, and starting this season positively, you could sense the confidence from Rehanne Skinner and players to record back-to-back victories over their London rivals right from the opening whistle, and the home side began dominating possession and territory. 

It took just three minutes to create the first chance of the afternoon in the pouring east London rain when Viviane Asseyi was fouled on the edge of the box. The forward dusted herself down to step up and take the free-kick, only for her attempted curling effort to go over the bar. 

At the other end, the Hammers overplayed at the back and Frida Maanum had a chance to shoot towards goal, but she was off balance and skewed her attempt high and wide. 

The clash was something of a slow burner to begin with, but sprung into life just before the midway point of the first half as the visitors had two chances in quick succession.

Firstly, when the ball was worked into the West Ham box and to the feet of Alessia Russo, with the forward’s shot drifting just wide of Kinga Szemik’s far post, before Caldentey picked up the ball on the right flank and fed a pass to an underlapping Emily Fox, but the right-back's effort was stopped by the stretched legs of the Polish goalkeeper.

The Gunners had the final chance of the first half when Lia Wälti saw an effort from the edge of the box comfortably dealt with by Szemik, and that was that.

After the break, both sides spurned good chances, with Katie McCabe darting in from the right, and shooting from a tight angle straight at Szemik. Back came West Ham, who fashioned a chance of their own as Asseyi twisted and turned inside the box before her effort crept just wide of Daphne van Domselaar’s near post.

A quadruple change with just over 30 minutes left signaled Renee Slegers' intent to turn the tide, as Beth Mead, Blackstenius, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Kafaji were introduced. 

The substitutions almost paid an instant dividend too, when Russo’s clever reverse pass played in Blackstenius, who was only denied by a quality save from Szemik. 

However, midway through the half, the game’s turning point came when Caldentey sent Szemik the wrong way from the spot after Blackstenius was brought down by Amber Tysiak to the left of the area.

Substitute Emma Harries then climbed off the bench as the Hammers sought a route back into the game. And the England U23 international almost had an immediate impact, rising above a Gunners defender and glancing Riko Ueki’s cross straight at van Domselaar. 

West Ham suddenly had more of a presence in the final third, but in committing numbers forward the visitors were also presented with opportunities.

Moments after entering the fray in place of Shannon Cooke, Dagný Brynjarsdóttir came agonisingly close to snatching a point as her back-post header was brilliantly kept out by van Domselaar.

With the Irons chasing a leveller, gaps on the break appeared and the visitors made it two soon after as Blackstenius embarked on a marauding run from halfway and picked out Kafaji for a first-time finish to secure maximum points. 

West Ham United: Szemik, Tysiak, Cooke (Brynjarsdóttir 81), Zadorsky, Denton, Gorry ©, Siren, Mengwen, Piubel (Paví 81), Ueki, Asseyi (Harries 72)
Subs not used: M.Walsh (GK), Smith, Bergman Lundin, Sáez, Houssein, S.Walsh

Booked: Asseyi 

Arsenal: van Domselaar, Fox (Reid 90), Codina, Catley, Caldentey, Little © (Cooney-Cross 59), McCabe, Maanum (Kafaji 58), Wälti, Foord (Mead 58), Russo (Blackstenius 58)
Subs not used: Zinsberger (GK), Williamson, Kuhl, Hurtig

Goals: Caldentey 71 (pen), Kafaji 89

Booked: Caldentey

Referee: Tom Parsons

Skinner: I'm proud of the players despite defeat

Rehanne Skinner was proud of the players' efforts on an afternoon which saw her side level at half-time before Arsenal stormed to victory in the second half.

The Hammers restricted the Gunners to barely any clear-cut chances in the opening 45 minutes before suffering a killer blow after the break, conceding two late goals following Caldentey's penalty and Kafaji's finish. 

But - despite the scoreline - Skinner insists they're plenty positives to reflect on during the international break.

“I'm delighted with the players," said Skinner. “I think they've done so well today, and I think everything from start to finish was excellent. They were diligent, they worked hard, the shape was fantastic and everybody stuck to their jobs. The time when we went one-nil down was unfortunate, really, because we'd had an opportunity when we came out in the second half with Viv [Viviane Asseyi], and it was a really decent chance. It was one of those things for the penalty, but I think collectively, the team, from front to back were outstanding and made it really, really difficult for Arsenal.

“When we went one-nil down, we fought really hard, created chances, and had another couple of opportunities with Emma Harries’ header and Dagny [Brynjarsdóttir’s] effort forcing saves. We were trying to get points out of the game from a set play, and unfortunately, we got caught on the counter for their second. But that, for me, was because, as a team and as a Club, we want to get a point out of a game. 

“I think we're working in the right way. We're trying to get box entries, trying to be a little bit more thoughtful about what we're doing in and around the box to create better quality chances than what we have had in some of the games. But I think overall the team these five games have worked really well in the sense that we've got everybody fit, everybody available for the team, adjusting to a new league, and adjusting to being in the UK.

“Obviously, we would have liked to have had more points out of those games, for sure. But in terms of performances, I think the performances have been really positive, and it's going to stand us in good stead for after the international break.

“The fans were excellent and this is probably the loudest it's been since last season, actually. We want to create this atmosphere every single week, because the fans being on our side makes such a difference to momentum for the game. 

“I think it's so important that we keep trying to build a style of play and team that fans want to come and support a little bit more. We're grateful for all the ones that have been travelling up and down the country, because it's been a lot. We want to build on the support that we've had today and keep growing that.”

Gorry: We've put in some really good performances, so we're sticking together

Women's team skipper Katrina Gorry echoed the thoughts of her manager at the full time whistle, where she too believed that the Hammers could be proud of the performance that they produced against the Gunners. 

The Irons went toe-to-toe with Arsenal for much of the contest, and even after they went down a goal after Caldentey had converted from the penalty spot, Gorry and her teammates were able to create a host of opportunities. 

Gorry also praised the defensive work of her teammates throughout the contest and believes that the team can take plenty of positives into the international break and refresh, ready for the clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of November. 

"I think there's a lot that we can take out of the game," Gorry explained. 

"Defensively, I think we were really, really good. It's always tough when a penalty is called against you, but I thought Amber [Tysiak] was outstanding for us all game. All of the defence defended really hard. 

"On the ball, we didn't rush things, and we created a lot of chances for ourselves, and I think we can be really proud of that showing. 

"Dags [Dagný Brynjarsdóttir] and Emma [Harries] came on and went close towards the end. We pushed numbers forward at the end of the game, and unfortunately they got one at the other end. But I'm not going to take it away from the girls - we're always going to push for that extra goal. 

"We've played in some really tough games so far this season, and we've put in some good performances, so we're sticking together. Now we have an international break for everyone to refresh, come back in with fresh minds and to get going against Tottenham.

"It was awesome to have such a big crowd here today. We love when it's loud in the stadium. We play our best football in front of our fans and when it's loud off the field. [We're] really thankful for everyone that came out today, both home and away fans. The more people we can get into the stadium, the better it is for us to perform," she concluded.