Marika Bergman Lundin was a frustrated figure at after West Ham United women’s team 2-0 defeat by Chelsea on Sunday.
The Irons were largely unlucky to come away from the game at Chigwell Construction Stadium with nothing, having more than held their own against the defending WSL champions.
After Aggie Beever Jones had given Chelsea the lead early on, Honoka Hayashi responded by slotting the ball beyond Hannah Hampton, only for the assistant referee to flag for offside. Replays showed that the midfielder was onside and the goal should have stood.
Bergman Lundin was introduced soon after as Katrina Gorry came off injured on 21 minutes, and the Swede adapted to the pace of the game well, moving the ball nicely and covering plenty of ground alongside Hayashi in the middle of the park.
Chances came and went for the home side, as Kirsty Smith, Viviane Asseyi and Riko Ueki all went close, but it would be Chelsea who added a second through Erin Cuthbert two minutes from time.
Bergman Lundin gave her thoughts on the valiant display from the team at full time.
“I think we showed Chelsea that, even though there’s quite a gap between us in the table, we can still give them a really good game and go against them,” the Swedish midfielder told West Ham TV.
“Chelsea came out on top, took their chances that they had and we didn’t.
“With the goal, it’s a perfectly good goal but it’s human error and [we as players] can’t do anything about that. Then, of course we want to score with the good opportunities that we had and the game could have looked different."
Since joining the Hammers from BK Häcken on deadline day in January, the midfielder has been eased into action, and before the game against Chelsea, she had made four appearances off the bench for Rehanne Skinner’s side, totting up 35 minutes of action.
The opportunity to enter the field and replace the injured Gorry meant that the midfielder was given an extended run out against the Blues, allowing her for more time to get a feel for the English game against tough opposition.
But it’s not just on the pitch where Bergman Lundin has had to adapt. Since arriving late in the window, the midfielder has been getting to grips with the English culture and life outside of football too.
"It’s a different country, so a lot of things are so different to what they’re like at home,” she explained.
“It’s hard when you’re being asked to jump into a game against a really good team, but I feel like I’m getting used to it [WSL football]. I’m getting used to the way that we play and how the league here compares to Sweden and stuff like that.
“There’s a lot of things you need to adapt to and get used to, and then try to settle down outside of football so that you can play good football too.
“I think the Club are easing me into things and are doing it in the right way, and I’m going to continue to get better and better, I hope!”
The Hammers will be hoping to pick up points when back at Chigwell Construction Stadium next weekend when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion, and the midfielder says the team have a lot of good things to watch back from the defeat.
“We have a lot of good clips that we can look through to see what we’re doing well and where we need to improve for next week. Hopefully, we can go out there and get a good result against Brighton.”
