Rehanne Skinner was delighted that West Ham United women’s team were able to clinch a 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday.
Goals from Viviane Asseyi and Hawa Cissoko cancelled out Alessia Russo’s first half opener, as the Hammers secured an historic first Barclays Women's Super League victory over the Gunners at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Skinner’s side were resilient and worked tirelessly in front of over 4,000 fans and were rewarded with an important three points.
Having defeated Bristol City at Ashton Gate the previous weekend, the Irons recorded back-to-back WSL successes for the first time under their head coach, and moved five points clear of the relegation zone in the process.
Skinner praised her side’s character, determination, and the support from the home fans, stating that they've been building towards a result such as this for six months...
It was a well-earned three points.
I’m absolutely delighted. I think the players' character, grit and determination were outstanding. It’s not unusual for us as we see it every day in training, but all of our decision making today at key moments was absolutely spot on.
They were so focused and determined to get the result. When we had opportunities to go forward, we were trying really hard to make something out of that, and when we had to defend, which we knew we would do quite a bit of, we were so diligent and organised. It was superb. I’m absolutely delighted for the players, I think it was a well-earned three points.
A result like this has been coming for six months.
A result like today has been six months in the making. We’ve tried to build a philosophy and processes that we have wanted to try and get right. The belief in the players has been there from the start and what we are trying to do, they just needed to believe in it a little bit more.
I think the more that has happened, and having a fantastic transfer window, adding some more senior characters around the team, is really helping the team and that’s part of the growth we are trying to do. It has been coming and whether it be this one or something else, we have been working on this and I’m really pleased for everyone who is involved on and off the pitch who have done such a good job to get us to this point.
The fans were outstanding and helped keep the players on task.
The fans were massively supportive today and towards the end of the game I thought they were outstanding and made sure we stayed on task and cheered us on. That makes a massive difference when you’re playing against teams like Arsenal.
You have to accept you don’t have everything your own way but actually the calmness and composure of the team to just do all the bits that mattered I thought was superb and I’m so glad that we have given the fans a home win as well. It’s been a long time coming but to do it against Arsenal is a massive plus. It’s important to keep building our fanbase as they’re a massive part of what we are trying to do, and we need more here, all the time.
It's an historic moment from Vivi.
They were two really good goals. It was never in doubt with Viviane [Asseyi] as she’s a fantastic penalty taker and that’s just put her as the highest scoring French player in the WSL, and I was really clear to tell her she’s now No.1 in that list at the end!
Hawa [Cissoko] has taken her finish unbelievably well. That’s a really difficult finish on her weaker foot as well. We’ve been trying to get better at second phases, and I thought she was exactly in the right place and really positive to get the shot off. She deserved it after putting in another really good shift for the team today and the two of them were just so committed to the team. They gave everything they possibly could.
This win is huge – but we want to extend our unbeaten streak.
We’ve got a little bit of a break now and have a friendly next weekend coming up, and then we’re thinking about Everton.
It’s a real good place to be and there’s a positive vibe within the team. They’ve got a bit of time now to relax and recover and then we will look to keep this streak going.
