Aston Villa 1-2 West Ham United
Barclays Women’s Super League, Bescot Stadium, Saturday 15 October 2022.
West Ham United Women claimed their second win of the new Barclays Women’s Super League season with a 2-1 victory away to Aston Villa.
An early goal from captain Dagny Brynjarsdottir got the Hammers off to the best possible start in the West Midlands before Honoka Hayashi then added a second, her first goal for the Club, eleven minutes later.
The home side went close with efforts from Anna Patten and Rachel Daly, but Mackenzie Arnold was in fine form at Bescot Stadium, making a number of brilliant saves to keep her team in front, including her second penalty stop of the WSL campaign.
However, former Hammer Kenza Dali would fire in with 15 minutes to play, before Hawa Cissoko was sent-off in added time at the end of the second half to make the closing exchanges tense for the away side.
Manager Paul Konchesky handed Norway U19s international Thea Kyvåg her first start since arriving from LSK Kvinner, making five changes in total from the draw with London City Lionesses.
The game had barely begun when the Irons found the opener from a set-piece routine. Brynjarsdottir repeated the act that saw her score against Chelsea in September, heading in from close range after a wonderful corner-kick delivery from Kirsty Smith.
It was two for Konchesky’s side inside 15 minutes. Hayashi picked up a loose ball inside the area and slotted the ball beyond Anna Leat to double their lead.
Viviane Asseyi almost took advantage of a poor backpass from Anna Patten, taking the ball around Leat with the opportunity to add a third. However, the angle was too acute for the forward and the shot found the side netting.
Aston Villa had a good chance from a free-kick but Sarah Mayling’s effort took a deflection off the wall on its way through to Arnold.
Villa continued to send bodies forward and look for a way back into the game. Goalkeeper Arnold stood firm and denied efforts from Rachel Daly and Laura Blindkilde.
Patten had the best opportunity for the home side in the first half as her header crashed off the outside of the post.
In the second half the Hammers were buoyed by the return of Emma Snerle, making her first showing after five months out injured, and could have possibly found the net with her very first touch. Villa skipper Rachel Corsie made a good block to deny the Denmark midfielder.
Risa Shimizu was next to try her luck for West Ham, testing Leat with a powerful shot, but New Zealand international Leat held onto the strike.
The game seemed to intensify in pace, with both sides looking to hit on the counter attack. Arnold had to be alert again, this time denying Kirsty Hanson after the Hammers failed to clear their lines.
Arnold was in sensational form and denied her former teammate Lehmann from the penalty spot. Kate Longhurst was adjudged to have handled in the box, but the Australia international dived the right way to prevent the Swiss from scoring against her former side.
The pressure from Villa finally told, however, and it would be another former Hammer that would pull a goal back, with Dali firing into the top corner with precision.
A tense closing stages was made even more uncomfortable for the visitors when Cissoko was dismissed for an altercation with Mayling. Manager Konchesky was also shown a red card and sent to the stands for his involvement in a subsequent altercation.
Despite that, the Irons were able to hold on for precious three points that saw them rise to sixth in the table.
Aston Villa: Leat, Mayling, Patten (Harding 77), Turner, Pacheco, Corsie (c), Dali, Blindkilde, Lehmann, Daly, Hanson.
Subs: Draper, Boye-Hlorkah, McLoughlin, Harding, Gregory, Goodwin, Rabjohn, MacPhail, Mullett.
Goal: Dali 75
Booking: Mayling
West Ham United: Arnold, Shimizu, Fisk, Cissoko, Smith, Longhurst (Filis 85), Brynjarsdottir (c), Hayashi (Snerle 58), Evans, Kyvag (Atkinson 75), Asseyi
Subs: Hillyerd, Houssein, Flannery, Walker.
Goals: Brynjarsdottir 2, Hayashi 14.
Bookings: Arnold 33, Snerle 74
Red Card: Cissoko 90+2
Attendance: 1,753
