Viviane Asseyi was pleased that West Ham United women’s team were able to secure their first three points of the season, beating Brighton 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The Hammers had to work hard to get the better of the Seagulls at Broadfield Stadium, and they were set on their way when Kirsty Smith reacted first to a Riko Ueki strike, bundling the ball over the line on 12 minutes.
And after riding a storm of pressure from the home side just before the half time whistle, Ueki bagged her first goal in Claret & Blue just after the break, heading a sumptuous free-kick from Lisa Evans beyond Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley.
Rehanne Skinner’s team were good value for the lead but did have to make sure they worked hard towards the end of the game, as the Seagulls looked to get back into it as the clocked ticked down.
But, after ten minutes of second half additional time, the Irons got the win and the clean sheet over the line, picking up their first points of the 2023/24 season.
Asseyi linked up well throughout the victory with Ueki and Lisa Evans at the front-end of the pitch, and she spoke with West Ham TV after the match to reflect on the victory…
I feel good because it was our first win of the season
We’re all very happy with the way that we played together and it’s always a really happy time when you come off the pitch with a win.
That’s why we work every day out on the training pitch, and I think we’ve had a really good week heading into this game. We still have a lot of work to do and we now that every game will be different, so we have to keep going, but we will enjoy this win.
We watched the Manchester City game back, and obviously there’s a difference in styles of play, but we still had to work hard and we’re pleased to come away with all three points.
We know that we will come under pressure at times
We won’t be at the top of our game 100% of the time, but we are confident in our abilities, everyone tries together and I believe you can do anything when you are a good team.
We knew that nothing can affect us because of our team spirit, even when we aren’t playing at our best. We will take that with us into our upcoming games.
The clean sheet was the result of hard work from everyone
We know that we have a good goalkeeper and defenders, everyone really, but the pressing started with us forwards and then everyone was following. We are all together, coming back to help out our defenders for the team.
Macca [Mackenzie Arnold] did her job well, and you know that, in this team, everyone is going to give everything!
It’s good that we have a lot of matches coming up this week
We play football for these moments. Personally I like when there is a lot of games, even when it is at the beginning of the season and we’ve only just come back from the World Cup and a hard pre-season.
We are looking forward to playing in the Conti Cup against Charlton, and then against Chelsea on Saturday, so we’re happy and excited for those games that are coming up.
Next up, the women's team will face Charlton Athletic in the Continental Tyres League Cup! Purchase your tickets by clicking on the graphic below!
