Olli Harder: West Ham Women were good value throughout Manchester United draw


Olli Harder was pleased that West Ham United Women scored a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

Grace Fisk cancelled out Ella Toone's earlier goal with a header in the dying embers of the game to share the spoils in east London. 

The point means that West Ham United stay sixth, but they have now collected 24 points, the highest number since joining the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. 

And the New Zealander reflected on an end-to-end game at the full-time whistle. 

“I thought we were good value throughout the game," Harder told whufc.com.

"It was a messy game because of the rain, both teams were trying to dictate the pace. We’re really pleased to come away with a point from a tough game.

“There’s always quite a lot of pressure on these types of matches at this stage of the season. Today was about trying to stay calm in those pressure situations, and I thought we created some really meaningful opportunities, especially in the second half. 

“Unfortunately, there was a lot of those that we couldn’t put away, but we did manage to get the goal in the end that got us the all-important point.”

It looked as though the goal for the Hammers might not arrive, as Tameka Yallop and Kateřina Svitková both saw chances land off-target in the closing stages. 

But Fisk met a last gasp corner superbly amongst a crowded penalty area to find the net – which means the Hammers continue their record of scoring in every home match this season. 
 

Olli Harder watches on against Manchester United
The players today represented themselves in a manner befitting the West Ham shirt, myself and how I want them to represent themselves
Olli Harder

“It’s a stat that we talked about before we went out, saying we need to go out and make sure we score since we've done that. We’d like to continue that record until the end of the season, and hopefully that'll be an aim of ours until the end of the season.
 
“I’m also really pleased for Grace to get the goal. She’s a fantastic character that works hard in training week in, week out. We decided to rotate the squad tonight and bring her back in and she’s paid us back in spades.”

The Irons now have 24 points on the board in the FA WSL, a record for the team since they joined the league in 2018. 

And Harder gave credit to everyone at the football club for such an achievement. 

“All the credit goes to my staff and the players. The players today represented themselves in a manner befitting the West Ham shirt, myself and how I want them to represent themselves. 

“The points are just an accumulation of all the good work that's been going on throughout the season with my coaching staff and the players.”