Manchester City 1-0 West Ham United women's team
Barclays Women's Super League, Joie Stadium, Saturday 1 November, 12noon GMT
Despite creating a number of good opportunities, a spirited West Ham United women’s team fell to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Saturday.
Aoba Fujino’s first-half goal proved enough to separate the two sides at the Joie Stadium, but the Hammers had our chances to get something from the game.
The closest we came was through Viviane Asseyi, who struck the crossbar with a dinked effort shortly after we fell behind, as Riko Ueki and Shekiera Martinez were also came close to earning us something in Manchester.
The first half saw the home side enjoy a lot of possession, going into half-time having had 72 per cent of the ball, but that didn’t mean the Hammers didn’t have our chances to find the back of the net.
After Bunny Shaw saw a header deflect over the bar, Ueki broke in behind the City backline with an impressive turn before she fired her effort low at Ayaka Yamashita’s near post, and the goalkeeper got down well to save the shot.
We then came forward again, this time through Ffion Morgan, who was operating as a right wing-back at the Joie Stadium. The Wales international delivered a teasing cross that Asseyi latched onto, but she volleyed her first-time strike just over the bar.
It was then midway through the first half that the Citizens broke the deadlock, which felt harsh on the Hammers after the chances we had carved out. Vivianne Miedema sweeped the ball to Fujino, who finished clinically across goal past Kinga Szemik.
Our heads didn’t drop and we had opportunities to level before the break, and the best chance came via Asseyi, who was played through by Martinez after the Germany U23 international had carried the ball the length of the pitch, however, our No20’s dink over Yamashita came back off the bar.
The architect of that chance, Martinez, was then gifted possession by the Manchester City defence. She reacted quickly, striking instinctively, but her shot was well blocked before Miedema failed to convert Iman Beney’s cross up the other end.
Beney was soon involved seven minutes into the second half, prodding Fujino’s cross wide before Gracie Prior headed off target from a corner.
After Manchester City’s No24’s chance, there was very little action in the second half, as the host continued to enjoy a lot of the ball but didn’t craft many clear-cut chances with it. That was until they won a free-kick with just over 20 minutes to play which resulted in Prior crashing a header against the bar before Miedema blocked one of her teammates’ shots off the line.
Following substitutions from both sides, City crafted another chance, this time Laura Brown skewed a shot off target, but she was not left to rue the missed opportunity, as the hosts claimed the three points come full-time.
Manchester City: Yamashita, Rose, Shaw, Miedema, Ouahabi, Casparij ©, Brown, Fujino, Beney (Coombs 76), Hasegawa, Prior
Subs not used: Keating (GK), Clinton, Wienroither, Knaak, Thomas, Oldroyd, Burdon, Shikhshabekova
Goal: Fujino 26
West Ham United: Szemik, Endo, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Endo (Brasero 87), Siren (Csiki 74), Gorry ©, Morgan (Hanshaw 79), Asseyi, Ueki, Martinez (Wandeler 74)
Subs not used: Walsh (GK), Belloumou, Paví, Nyström, Houssein
Referee: Ryan Atkin
Attendance: TBC
Skinner: The attitude and desire from the players was great
Manager Rehanne Skinner was incredibly proud of her side’s performance against Manchester City despite suffering a 1-0 defeat at the Joie Stadium.
Her pride came from the chances the Hammers created in the game, and also how resilient they were at the back against a side sitting second in England’s top flight.
Viviane Asseyi came closest to scoring for the east Londoners, as her dink in the first half agonizingly came back off the woodwork, which followed a volley from Ffion Morgan’s cross that just flew over the bar.
Having had 20 players away on international duty and only a few days to prepare for the game with the whole squad, Skinner insisted her team will take confidence from their display up north ahead of three successive matches at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
The way the players approached the game, I thought they were fantastic.
I thought we were excellent defensively and great in front of goal in the first half, we just didn’t quite get that finishing touch. We had four chances, three of them were exceptional. Shekiera [Martinez], Vivi [Asseyi], Riko [Ueki], Ffion [Morgan] were all really effective in the final third today.
Up the other end, we made ourselves so hard to break down. You expect to have to defend the box against the players that they have and I think we did so well to get out to the ball quickly and make life difficult for them, make blocks at the right time.
We’re disappointed we’ve not taken something out of it and after all the minutes the players have had over the international break, the attitude and desire from the players [was great], and the resilience as well. We’ve got to turn things around, we have to keep finding opportunities for results, and that’s part of the game.
At full-back, as a wing-back, as a winger, she’s (Ffion Morgan) an asset to the team.
We knew we’d be able to exploit them down that side, and I thought she was really good in combination with Riko [Ueki]. It created opportunities for us and we should have scored from them.
Equally, Anouk’s been fantastic on camp for England, got her first call-up to the seniors, and I thought she was really solid at left wing-back today.
We’ve had a really good performance, so it’s disappointing. I wouldn’t say frustrating because we played well, so we’ve taken a lot out of the performance. It’s just disappointing not to get something.
The group that worked at the training ground[during the international break] were tremendous.
It shows the credit and desire to keep improve. The second the rest of the group walked back through the door, there was a real focus of, ‘We want something out of this game’. That shows the resilience despite things not going our way.
There’s so much to take out today. Mini (Katrina Gorry) and Shelina [Zadorsky] said the same thing at the end to the group, there’s bits there that we want to take moving forward.
Denton: Everyone's feeling positive
Defender Anouk Denton believes West Ham United women’s team’s performance against Manchester City was the most positive of the season so far.
The left wing-back, who played all of the contest at the Joie Stadium, was part of a resilient backline that thwarted the Citizens on many occasions. She also helped create a flurry of chances down the left-hand side as the Hammers enjoyed dangerous spells in the final third, particularly in the first half.
Whilst, unfortunately, none of the attacks led to goals, it was a promising performance that gives the Irons a lot of confidence heading into a busy November period.
“I think it was the best performance we’ve had this season, with how strong we were defensively and the opportunities we had at goal,” said Denton.
“We just have to finish our chances, but I’d say it was our best team performance.
“Everyone was throwing their bodies in front of the ball, and the intent and desire to stop the ball from going in the net was a positive and an improvement from other games. Ffion [Morgan] is great at wing-back, she’s so speedy going forward to get past people.
“I think the energy from the team coming back from internationals was really good. We’ve only had two sessions back together but it feels like everyone’s feeling positive going into the next few games. We’ve got three home games coming up and I think they’ll be good.”
Denton was one of 20 internationals away on duty during the break, and it was a memorable one for her as she was called up to England’s senior team for the first time.
Reflecting on the experience, our No18 said: “It was amazing to be in that environment and around those kinds of players. It was incredible and I learned so much from them.”
