Aston Villa 3-1 West Ham United women's team
Barclays Women's Super League, Villa Park, Sunday 15 December 2024, 2pm GMT
Despite a spirited performance, West Ham United women’s team fell to a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The game was only three minutes old when Adriana Leon placed the ball into the bottom-left corner from just outside the box to give the home side the advantage.
But as they did last weekend, the Hammers responded, through a Viviane Asseyi header - her third WSL goal of the campaign - and went on to have the ball in the back of the net again, but Riko Ueki was deemed to be offside.
That was a wake-up call for Villa, who regained the lead two minutes before half-time when Leon, netting her second, finished off a flowing team move.
That’s not to say the Hammers didn’t push for a leveller, in fact they had a plethora of opportunities to claim at least a point at Villa Park - notably chances for Manuela Paví and Katrina Gorry that were saved by Sabrina D’Angelo.
With West Ham pushing to restore parity, Villa broke to net a third with eight minutes remaining, as former Hammer Kenza Dali curled the ball into the top-left corner, bringing an end to the Hammers’ run of three victories on the bounce ahead of the Christmas break.
Speaking before the game, Rehanne Skinner wanted her side to buck their trend of conceding first but that was dealt an early blow when the Villans broke the deadlock inside the opening three minutes. Being allowed time and space on the edge of the box, Leon drove forward before slotting the ball into the bottom-left corner.
While they fell behind, the Hammers made D’Angelo work in the opening stages with both Ueki and Piubel sending low efforts at goal that the shot-stopper was equal to. The home side responded to the Irons’ pressure, but Rachel Daly sent a first-time volley high over the bar.
Villa enjoyed a period of control, starving West Ham of possession and forcing Skinner’s side to act quickly on the break, and one of their counter-attacks led to a free-kick that drew them level. While the original set-piece delivery came to nothing, the Hammers worked the ball well, allowing Gorry to cut inside onto her weaker left foot and cross to the back post where Asseyi headed home.
That sparked life into the visitors, who came forward again moments after levelling. Asseyi swung a cross in from the left that Ueki met with a looping header, but her effort was claimed by D’Angelo.
Then, ten minutes before the break, the same combination of Asseyi to Ueki looked like it had put West Ham in front for the first time in the contest, as the Japan international diverted the winger’s free-kick past the goalkeeper. But, the linesman was quick to raise his flag and mute any celebrations.
It looked as if the Hammers had done enough to head into the break level, but two minutes before half-time Leon notched hers, and Villa’s second - capping off a well-worked team move that cut through the Irons defence with a slotted finish past Szemik.
The Hammers had to defend astutely to make sure the deficit wasn’t two-goals at the break as the home side enjoyed a pair of counter-attacking opportunities that fortunately failed to yield a goal.
Heading into the match, the Irons had scored nine second-half goals in their last four games across all competitions and were quick to get on the front foot after half-time at Villa Park. In quick succession, Gorry’s throughball just escaped Ueki’s path and then Piubel flashed an effort just wide of the right-hand post.
The Irons kept pressing for an equaliser as the second half progressed, with Gorry bending a shot wide of the post before Paví struck straight at D’Angelo.
The pair then crafted two more opportunities which saw Paví strike a volley from inside the box over the bar while a rasping Gorry effort from the edge of the penalty area stung the gloves of the goalkeeper.
Kinga Szemik was also busy at the other end, making a superb reflex stop to deny Anna Patten’s bullet header.
Skinner’s side kept pushing forward in search of a leveller, but were caught out on the break with the game heading towards the closing stages, as Dali found space on the edge of the box to wrap the ball into the top-left corner - sealing Villa’s first home victory against West Ham in the WSL.
West Ham United: Szemik, Denton, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Mengwen (Cooke 85), Siren (Brynjarsdóttir 90+2), Gorry ©, Piubel, Paví (Smith 77), Asseyi, Ueki
Subs not used: M. Walsh (GK), Sáez, Bergman Lundin, Houssein, S. Walsh, Harries
Goals: Asseyi 21
Booked: Mengwen
Aston Villa: D’Angelo, Tomás, Turner, Patten, Nobbs, Staniforth (Taylor 85), Dali, Daly © (Nunes 80), Maritz (Mayling 64), Salmon (Hanson 64), Leon (Pacheco 89)
Subs not used: Poor (GK), Kearns, Mullett, Grant
Goals: Leon 4, 43
Booked: Maritz, Staniforth
Referee: Grace Lowe
Skinner: We weren’t as clinical as we have been
Rehanne Skinner was pleased with how many chances her West Ham side created at Villa Park, but acknowledged they could have been more clinical in front of goal.
After falling 2-1 behind at the break, the Hammers crafted a lot of opportunities and were denied on several occasions by Aston Villa goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo.
And before Adriana Leon put Villa back in front, Riko Ueki’s celebrations were cut short as the linesman raised his flag after the striker had the ball in the back of the net.
We weren’t as clinical as we have been.
There’s little bits we didn't quite get right in possession. We were a bit isolated and didn’t get quite as much support up front as we’d liked. We’re better on the ball than what we showed at times, and we made some great chances, and we weren't quite as clinical as we have been.
When we get all the pieces of the jigsaw right, we know we’re competitive and we can get the points out of this game. But we just didn’t quite have all of those bits in place today.
I’ve got to say, the timing of the goal that was disallowed, that absolutely shouldn’t have been disallowed, changes the game. It puts us at 2-1, obviously we had momentum at the time, and those goals change games. For that to be chalked off is outrageous, and that needs to be looked at.
I thought when we changed shape, we created a lot more chances, so it was really positive in that sense. We want to win games, so I’d rather go out and get those points on the board than sit back and hope for the best, and still be a goal behind.
I think the overriding sense is that we just didn’t get all of the pieces at the right time. I think they had too many second-ball wins over us.
The progress we’ve made has been positive.
Ultimately, we’ve made a lot of progress over the course of the first half of the season, we’ve been competitive, we’ve been in every single game, we’ve won more games than this time last year, so there’s a lot to build on.
We want to make sure that we come back in a good space. Women’s League Cup quarter-final, the FA Cup starts, there’s a lot to play for. I think the progress we’ve made has been positive overall.
We’ve moved forward in a positive way, you can see the quality that we’ve got going forward, and some days you just can’t put the ball in the back of the net in the way that you want.
We’ll keep working on it, because the players have worked hard all season and that’s why we’ve improved so much.
We’ve got a lot of opportunities to pick up points.
We’re training this week, but then players need to go away and have a break - have time with families and reset. We want to bring in a few more players in the January window, that’s going to be important for the depth of the squad.
We want to try and enhance the squad, for us, for the fans, for the way we’re playing, and then we go again. It’s a long season and we’ve got a lot of opportunities to pick up points, and that will be the focus when everyone’s had a break and a bit of a switch off.
