Head coach Matt Beard feels there were plenty of positives for West Ham United to take away from a 3-1 loss to high-flying Chelsea on Sunday.
In an engrossing encounter watched by a season-high 2122 supporters at Rush Green Stadium, the two teams traded productive spells in the game, with both missing several strong opportunities to take the lead in the first half.
The breakthrough came when substitute Adriana Leon scored with her first touch of the ball with half-an-hour remaining, slamming a rebound home just moments after replacing Jacynta Galabadaraachchi.
However, the Blues’ stronger recent form eventually told, and three goals inside the last 20 minutes - the first a composed finish inside the area from Sophie Ingle, the second a long-range strike from Ji, and the sealer a counter-attacking goal by Drew Spence - granted them a scoreline which belies the more competitive nature of the contest.
“We can take the positives out of that,” Beard told whufc.com. “Chelsea started better and it took us a while to settle into the game, but I felt after probably the first fifteen or twenty minutes, we grew into it, we did really well, and we created some good chances.
“I think we deservedly went in front, but we do need to do better for their first two goals. The first one’s a little bit difficult because Sophie Ingle took it first-time and it was a good finish, but with Ji’s, we definitely could have got out and blocked the shot.
“At 2-1 you’re chasing the game and we left ourselves a little vulnerable to the counter-attack, and unfortunately we’ve turned the ball over in injury-time, and they’ve broken and scored.”
We can take the positives, as we’ve had a tough week... against teams like Chelsea, and if you give them opportunities, they’ll take them. That was the difference today.
Matt Beard
Beard believes such a clinical touch proved the difference between the two sides on the day, and hopes that his side can address this in the weeks ahead.
“We can take the positives, as we’ve had a tough week,” Beard observed. “We’ve had flu in the camp and unfortunately we’ve had two or three players break down injury-wise, which meant we’ve had to make changes again.
“If we can just be a little bit more consistent and take our chances… that’s been our Achilles heel this season – not taking our chances when we should be doing - and against teams like Chelsea, and if you give them opportunities, they’ll take them. That was the difference today I think.”
Following on from an impressive comeback against Tottenham last weekend, Beard hopes that his side can begin to string together some more consistent performances in order to ascend the Women’s Super League table.
“Manchester United’s the best example of it being a tight league this season,” he said. “They lost their first two games and have gone on a three-game run, and now are much further up the table.
“From my perspective, we’ve said this since day one: we want to be challenging these top teams, and we want to be competing to finish as high up the league table as we can.
“We need to get to Christmas and make sure we’re in touch with them points-wise. That’s our target for the first part of the season, and hopefully we can get one or two back from injury over the course of this week and we can be a little bit more settled on the pitch next time around.”
