West Ham United women's team 1-1 Liverpool
Barclays Women's Super League, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Sunday 22 October 2023, 3pm
West Ham United women’s team scored a late second half goal to share the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in their final Barclays Women’s Super League fixture before the October international break.
A second half strike from Marie Hobinger was the difference on a sunny afternoon at Chigwell Construction Stadium, as the away side also struck the crossbar twice, either side of half time.
Rehanne Skinner’s Irons improved in the second half, and it took until the final minute of stoppage time for them to find an equaliser, as Riko Ueki stabbed the ball home from close range after a scramble in the box.
Skinner kept faith with the same eleven that performed admirably against Chelsea last weekend. The addition was on the bench, as Jessie Stapleton was named in matchday squad for the first time since joining the Club after overcoming an injury picked up during pre-season.
The Hammers started brightly in east London, with Viviane Asseyi almost being presented with the opportunity to open the scoring inside three minutes. Liverpool goalkeeper, Rachael Laws misjudged a flighted ball into the area, but luckily the ball went throw the crowd and out of play.
Liverpool themselves then went close through Sophie Roman Haug, as the Norwegian connected with a corner, but her header landed narrowly wide of Mackenzie Arnold’s left-hand post.
Arnold was called into action just before the 25-minute mark, as she did superbly to get down and deny a curling strike from Reds midfielder, Fuka Nagano. Then, a well worked Liverpool move ended with Emma Koivisto going close, but she couldn’t divert her header on target from an acute angle.
Ceri Holland’s shot cannoned off the crossbar, before Viviane Asseyi charged down a shot from the resulting corner, but neither side could break the deadlock going into half time.
Five minutes into the second half, and Arnold’s crossbar was shaking again. A corner kick found the head of Gemma Bonner, but thankfully her header hit the crossbar and bounced away.
And on 52 minutes, the away side broke the deadlock. Shannon Cooke tried to play out from the back, but a square ball was picked up by Holland and laid the ball back for Hobinger to curl the ball beyond Arnold and into the bottom corner.
On the hour mark, Asseyi looked to have gifted the chance to equalise after she intercepted a loose pass. However, as she looked to round Laws, she lost her footing at the vital moment and the chance went begging.
There were some shouts for handball ten minutes later. Lisa Evans looked to deliver a cross to the by-line, but it was cut out by Jenna Clark with what looked to have been a hand as she slid to cut the ball out.
Skinner’s side continued to search for an equaliser, and Izzy Atkinson almost managed to grab one in second half stoppage time. Her drilled effort landed narrowly wide of the post.
It took until the closing moments for the hardworking Hammers to find an equaliser, as Ueki popped up with her second goal for the Club, as she bundled the ball home to share the spoils
West Ham United: Arnold, Denton (Flannery 84), Smith, Cissoko, Cooke, Evans (Atkinson 78), Shimizu, Hayashi, Asseyi, Ueki, Harries (Filis 46).
Unused Subs: Walsh, Stringer, Tysiak, Stapleton, Ademiluyi.
Booking: Ueki 38
Goals: Ueki 90+5
Liverpool: Laws, Koivisto (Matthews 70), Fisk, Nagano, Haug (Enderby 84), Hinds ©, Hobinger (Kearns 76), Clark, Holland, Bonner (Parry 84), Flint (Daneils 70).
Unused Subs: Micah, Lawley, Enderby, Lundgaard, Parry, Taylor.
Goals: Hobinger 52
Booking: Bonner 73
Attendance: 1163
Referee: Stephen Hughes
After the international break, the women's team welcome Bristol City to Chigwell Construction Stadium! Click on the graphic below to purchase your tickets now!
