Birmingham City 2-1 West Ham United women’s team
Continental Tyres League Cup group stage, St Andrews, Wednesday 24 January 2024, 7pm GMT
West Ham United women’s team were beaten 2-1 by Birmingham City in their final Continental Tyres League Cup group stage fixture.
Lily Agg headed in from close range on 18 minutes, before Martha Harris scored from outside the area after half-time to put the Blues two ahead.
The Hammers were presented with opportunities in the Midlands, but often found themselves lacking in the final third.
Riko Ueki was able to find the back of the net late on, but the Hammers ultimately fell to defeat on a disappointing evening.
The game was less than a minute old when the home side created their first opportunity of the cup clash. Charlie Devlin received the ball centrally and fired over the crossbar from distance.
Agg and Devlin then tested Mackenzie Arnold twice inside 30 seconds, as West Ham tried to settle the game.
Rehanne Skinner’s side created their first opportunity through an attentive high press on 14 minutes, with Abbey-Leigh Stringer pinching the ball from Cho So-Hyun and feeding Viviane Asseyi, only for the forward to be denied by Lucy Thomas.
The home side took the lead when a cross from Ellie Mason found Agg at the back post, and the Republic of Ireland international steered her effort into the corner, despite pressure from Risa Shimizu and Hawa Cissoko.
Devlin then forced Arnold into a fantastic save on 23 minutes, with the latter tipping a curling effort behind as the Blues continued to assert their early dominance on the fixture.
After a break, which saw Stringer come off injured, the Irons moved forward, and Kirsty Smith saw an effort that looked to be goal-bound blocked by Neve Herron.
Asseyi looked to be in and away after a loose touch from Herron, but a brilliant recovery challenge from Christie Harrison-Murray stopped the France international from pulling the trigger.
Three minutes into the second half, Birmingham doubled their lead. A loose ball fell out to the edge of the area, allowing substitute Harris to strike cleanly, with her effort flying beyond Arnold and into the bottom corner of the net.
Ueki was then denied by a fantastic save by Thomas as those in white tried to get back into the contest. The forward had another opportunity on 75 minutes after neat play saw the ball fall to her in the box, but she couldn’t steer the effort on target.
The Japanese forward tested Thomas with a header late on, and then was able to beat the goalkeeper from a corner, but it was too little too late for the Hammers, as time ran out and they suffered defeat.
The result sees West Ham eliminated from the competition, having finished third in Group E with one win and two losses.
Birmingham City: Thomas, Mason, Lou Quinn (Harris 34), Finn, Harrison-Murray ©, Agg (Lu Quinn 55), Fuso (Dungate 69), Cho (Yuri 55), Walker (Jenner 69), Devlin, Herron
Unused subs: Clarke, Lawley, Banaras, Smith.
Goals: Agg 18, Harris 48
Booked: Yuri, Mason
West Ham United: Arnold ©, Smith, Cooke (Harries 69), Cissoko, Shimizu, Denton (Ademiluyi 46), Stringer (Tysiak 26), Hayashi, Snerle (Ziu 46), Asseyi, Ueki
Unused subs: Walsh, Stapleton, Flannery
Goal: Ueki 91
Attendance: 781
