Olli Harder was pleased that West Ham United Women came out on top in what was a tough battle against Barclays FA Women’s Super League bottom side, Birmingham City on Sunday.
Adriana Leon scored the only goal of the match on 41 minutes, in a game where both sides lacked consistency and cutting edge.
After drawing with the Blues in the reverse fixture at the Chigwell Construction Stadium back in October, Harder was happy that his team came away with the win this time around.
“The most important thing is that we’re walking out of the stadium with three points,” Harder told whufc.com.
“That was the objective when we looked at this game beforehand, and I’m pleased that the players and staff were able to achieve that today.
“Birmingham are a tough team to play, especially here at this ground and because of the position that they’re in – they’re fighting for survival and it makes things tough.
“Performance wise, we weren’t at our best today – but we were resilient, the girls gave everything to make sure we didn’t concede an equaliser, so credit to them.”
Darren Carter’s Blues certainly didn’t make it easy, and, in an evenly matched contest, could have easily got back into the game if the likes of Lucy Quinn and Emily Whelan had taken opportunities that came their way.
But it would be the Hammers that would eventually prevail, with the victory taking them up to sixth place in the FA WSL table, eight points behind Manchester United who they face on Wednesday evening.
“There weren’t too many chances throughout the game, but we scored the big one that came our way. It was a great delivery from Kateřina (Svitková) and we’re so pleased that Adriana has managed to get on the scoresheet.
“She’s had a long time out injured, and to have that impact on the game and then score the winning goal was fantastic.
“Our goal is to finish as high as we can in the table. We’re not a million miles away from the Champions League places so that candle is still lit.
“We have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the season, but now hopefully we can push on and get through this run of tough matches.”
The tie against Manchester United could be an important milestone in the Hammers’ ambitions to creep into the top three places, and Harder is looking forward to the game.
“We welcome the challenge of Manchester United on Wednesday. We know it’s obviously going to be a tough game because they’re a really good side – but we’ve been able to make our home ground a bit of a fortress this season.
“Only Chelsea have been able to beat us there, so we’re very much looking forward to the game and hopefully we can get a positive result from it.”
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