Amber Tysiak said that West Ham United women’s team’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon was a tough result take.
Liverpool took the lead before half time when former West Ham United forward Leanne Kiernan slotted into an empty net after Ceri Holland caught Mackenzie Arnold whilst playing the ball through.
Missy Bo Kearns made it two just after half time when she ran across the face of goal and headed into the bottom corner. Sophie Roman Haug then netted a third at the far post, before Riko Ueki scored what would only go down as a consolation goal late on as the Hammers fell to defeat on Merseyside.
Whilst Tysiak admitted that Liverpool took their chances well during the game, she also believes that the decision to not award a foul for the challenge on Arnold leading up to the first goal was a turning point in the afternoon after a solid first half showing prior to that.
“It’s a hard result to take,” Tysiak told whufc.com at the final whistle. “We’re really disappointed to lose the game.
“First half, it was a 50/50 kind of game where both teams had opportunities, and I felt as though we were really in the game. For the first goal, I feel like there is a foul on Macca [Mackenzie Arnold], and that’s tough. We had two big chances at the end of the first half as well that we weren’t able to take.
“I felt like Liverpool were quite clinical with the chances that they took, which was frustrating. We have to make sure we improve, pick ourselves up and be ready for next weekend.”
There were 13 points splitting the two sides in the standings before kick off, with the Reds pushing to break into the established top four this season.
Rehanne Skinner’s Hammers were looking to build on a positive home draw against Manchester United in their last outing two weeks prior, but Tysiak believes they fell short of their usual performance levels, which made for a difficult afternoon.
“I don’t think we were aggressive enough and we made things difficult for ourselves at times. Bits we’re usually very good at we were a little short on, and you can’t do that in this league.
“It was a disappointing game for us, and one of those days that you sometimes have in football where decisions don’t quite go our way. We need to improve in our next two home matches.”
A large number of Hammers fans had made the trip to cheer on the team at Prenton Park, and Tysiak was quick to praise them for their support at full time.
“It’s always nice to have the travelling fans. We know that they have to travel for a long time and pay to come and watch us, so we really appreciate them coming to watch us play.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get any points today, but we’ll be working hard to try and put that right in our next two home matches,” the defender concluded.
