West Ham United Women 3-0 Everton
Barclays FA Women’s Super League
Victoria Road
Saturday 23 January 2022
Goals from Kateřina Svitková, Dagný Brynjarsdóttir and Claudia Walker gave West Ham United Women a convincing first win of the calendar year, putting Everton to the sword 3-0 at Victoria Road.
A first-half lead was perhaps a fortuitous one for Olli Harder’s side as the visitors to east London twice struck the crossbar and spurned some presentable opportunities.
West Ham themselves had created chances, however, and the ever-influential Svitková was the first player of the game to take hers, starting the move and tucking home from a pull-back by Lisa Evans, who had been reintroduced to the starting XI on Sunday.
Shortly after half-time, Brynjarsdóttir scooped home a second after Evans was brought down inside the box, before Walker capped the victory five minutes from time with a smart left-footed finish from substitute Emma Snerle’s low cross.
The result sees the Hammers climb up to seventh in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table, now just five points behind their aspirational target of third place.
West Ham manager Harder had bemoaned fine margins and small details going against his side in their FA Women’s Continental League Cup defeat at the hands of Chelsea in midweek.
But it was the Hammers who proved the beneficiaries of those margins in a first half-an-hour by-and-large dominated by Everton, who spent the majority of it camped in the Hammers’ half.
After a couple of half chances, on the quarter-of-an-hour mark, Hanna Bennison picked up the ball struck a rising drive from 25 yards, but West Ham goalkeeper Anna Leat produced an excellent save to tip the shot onto the crossbar and over.
The game was proving an open one, with Brynjarsdóttir the next to come close two minutes later after Kate Longhurst – on her 150th WSL appearance – produced some nice footwork to beat Poppy Pattinson to the byline, hanging up an inviting cross which the Iceland midfielder headed high and wide on the stretch.
The pace of the fixture did slow in its next segment, however, with the Hammers carrying their greatest threat from set-pieces, and with Everton restricted to two deflected efforts from distance – neither of which troubled Leat in the West Ham goal.
Then, on the half-an-hour mark, Everton hit the crossbar for a second time. A short corner routine led to Gauvin attacking the delivery with real power, but thankfully, her thumping header smacked clean against the Irons’ woodwork.
The second close call appeared to spur the Hammers into action as they twice went close themselves in quick succession.
After Svitková blocked an Everton clearance, the ball cannoned into the path of Evans who, squaring up the covering centre-back, attempted an early shot from 25 yards which forced Toffees’ goalkeeper Sandy MacIver into a sprawling low save.
From the resulting corner, West Ham themselves worked a short corner well, Svitková curling a cross towards the far post which Lucy Parker did well to slide onto, but could only divert inches wide.
It was from a similar situation – forced by a combination of perseverance and individual brilliance – that Svitková gave the Hammers the lead four minutes before half-time.
Charging down another clearance, the ball dropped kindly for the Czech Republic midfielder, who carried the ball from deep in the Everton half to the edge of the box before slipping in Evans and – racing onto the return – squeezed the ball through Danielle Turner’s legs and over the line for her second goal in five days, and first strike of the WSL season.
If the Irons had been guilty of making a slow start to the first half, the same could not be said for the second, with Walker having a goal disallowed for offside in the opening two minutes of the period after clever player from Zaneta Wyne and a chipped pass by Svitková.
And ten minutes later, their advantage was doubled. Svitková went deep and played a lofted pass down the line for Evans to chase, and as the winger cut inside and was tackled by Turner, the ball broke for Brynjarsdóttir to scoop home a scruffy finish despite the MacIver getting a touch to it, sparking jubilant celebrations in Dagenham.
Everton almost hit back immediately when Pattinson’s whipped ball into the box two minutes later was somehow diverted over by Rikke Sevecke with the goal at her mercy.
And that miss appeared to take the wind out of the visitors’ sails as West Ham exerted an element of control on the remainder of the half which they never looked like relinquishing.
Both sides introduced substitutes to try and reinvigorate themselves, but there was little by way of clear chances in the remainder of the game – and from Harder and the Hammers’ perspective, there didn’t need to be.
And the points were wrapped up classily with the final opportunity of the game as Evans took full advantage of a poor Everton clearance to charge down the left flank and roll the ball across the face of goal for Walker to tuck home a neat finish with just under five minutes left on the clock.
West Ham United: Leat; Fisk, Parker, Flaherty (c); Longhurst (Joel 89), Stringer (Houssein 90+2), Wyne (Snerle 61), Svitkova; Brynjarsdottir, Evans (Filis 88), Walker
Subs: Moore, Cairns
Goals: Svitková 42, Brynjarsdottir 57, Walker 86
Everton: MacIver, Turner, Sevecke, George, Pattinson (Duggan 63), Christiansen, Galli (Finnigan 79), Anvegård (Björn 63), Bennison (Emslie 71), Dali, Gauvin (Clinton 79)
Subs: Brosnan, Finnigan, Maier
Attendance: 1,372