West Ham United women’s team 0-2 Manchester City
Barclays Women’s Super League, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Sunday 1 October 2023, 3pm BST.
West Ham United women’s team battled hard, but were ultimately beaten 2-0 by Manchester City at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday.
The Hammers battled well in their first competitive home fixture since May, and limited visitors Man City to very little in the first half.
However, after Riko Ueki went close with an effort that Khiara Keating got down well to deny, Lauren Hemp opened the scoring with a sweetly struck strike.
Two minutes later and Shannon Cooke was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area when blocking Chloe Kelly’s shot. The Lionesses forward stepped up from the spot, but was expertly denied by Mackenzie Arnold, who got down well to her left to save on 49 minutes.
Jill Roord would mark her debut with a goal, slotting the ball home on 55 minutes to extend the lead.
Leila Ouahabi was then sent off for a challenge on Emma Harries, which allowed Rehanne Skinner’s team to push further forward as they looked to get back into the contest.
However, they couldn’t find a goal as they fell to defeat, despite a spirited performance in their opening fixture of the new season.
Skinner was taking charge of her first competitive fixture in charge, whilst Ueki
was making her debut in Claret & Blue.
Ahead of kick-off, players, staff and supporters paused to remember Sheffield United defender, Maddy Cusack, who sadly passed away recently.
City started the better of the sides, winning a corner early on that didn’t trouble anybody in the box. Roord, who was also making her debut in the fixture then tried to have a go, but her shot trickled wide of the target.
The pressure from Gareth Taylor’s team continued in the opening ten minutes, with the sustained pressure almost leading to Lauren Hemp getting a touch on a fierce cross from Deyna Castellanos.
The Hammers were a threat on the counterattack, though, and Ueki was sprung in behind, but Keating was alive to meet the Japan forward and stop her from taking on the shot inside the penalty area.
However, City almost punished the Irons when Hayashi received the ball from Arnold under pressure and Roord was able to pinch in and attempted to chip Arnold, but she didn’t execute the effort as she would have liked, and it landed in the City crowd rather than in the net.
But again, Skinner’s team continued to cause problems when they won it back, this time with Viviane Asseyi springing the trap in behind. The France forward couldn’t get a strike away, but as the play was recycled, a dangerous ball in from Evans almost found the head of the forward, but City were able to scramble clear.
In truth, Arnold hadn’t had too much to do in the opening half. She did however have to be alert to save a strike from Ouahabi, which swerved as it made its way into the gloves of the Hammers captain on 38 minutes.
Ueki was causing the City defence some issues, and she almost got her head onto a superb cross from Kirsty Smith, but the No9 couldn’t connect and the ball bounced through to Keating.
The first half was certainly end-to-end, and just before the whistle sounded, Hemp let fly after a well-constructed attack from the visitors. She couldn’t keep her right-footed strike down, however, as it flew well over the bar.
In the second half, Ueki raced out of the blocks, forcing Keating into her first save of the afternoon. Asseyi nodded the ball in behind for the forward to run onto, and her driven shot forced the Manchester City goalkeeper into action.
However, two minutes later and the Irons were behind, as Lauren Hemp curled a strike into the bottom corner after good build up play.
And it went from bad to worse for the Irons, as Kelly’s delivery struck the hand of Cooke in the opinion of the referee. However, Arnold would deny her from the spot, diving superbly to her left to keep the ball out and the scoreline at 1-0.
Roord would eventually make it 2-0 on 55 minutes, as she drove into the box and curled an effort which nestled in the bottom corner, beyond the outstretched arm of Arnold.
Ueki was forced to cut her West Ham United debut short, being replaced by Emma Harries on the hour-mark after going down and receiving treatment.
On 72 minutes, referee Abigail Bryne showed Ouahabi a straight red card for a challenge on Harries, in which it looked as the Spaniard kicked out after the West Ham forward had taken the ball from her and advanced.
Asseyi went close as the clock ticked down, running in behind on the right, but her strike didn't cause any issues for Keating.
And after seven minutes of additional time, referee Bryne sounded the whistle to bring the contest to a close, with the Irons on the losing end in their first fixture of the season.
West Ham United: Arnold (c), Smith, Cooke, Cissoko, Shimizu, Evans, Stringer (Denton 76), Filis (Flannery 76), Hayashi, Asseyi, Ueki (Harries 60).
Unused Subs: Walsh, Atkinson, Ziu, Ademiluyi.
Manchester City: Keating, Aleixandri, Greenwood (c), Fowler, Kelly (Casparij 75), Castellanos (Blaksted 81), Hemp, Ouahabi, Roord (Angeldahl 87), Hasegawa, Kennedy.
Unused Subs: Roebuck, Houghton, Coombs, Morgan, Park, Mace.
Goals: Hemp 47, Roord 55
Red Card: Ouahabi 72
Referee: Abigail Bryne
Attendance: 2032
