West Ham United Women 0-0 Liverpool
Barclays Women's Super League, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Sunday 2 April 2023, 5pm BST
West Ham United Women played out a competitive 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Both sides had chances at Chigwell Construction Stadium, with Dagný Brynjarsdóttir and Yana Daniels having the best chances of the game in the opening 20 minutes, but neither side could find the breakthrough over the 90 minutes.
But Paul Konchesky will take positives from claiming their first point in the Barclays Women's Super League since early February, whilst also keeping a clean sheet.
The Hammers made a good start in the east London sunshine, with Brynjarsdóttir going close. Lisa Evans was back in the starting XI after missing out against Manchester United last weekend, and the winger almost made an instant impact, firing a ball across for Brynjarsdóttir to head goalwards, but she couldn’t direct the ball on target and it sailed over.
Matt Beard’s Reds had a chance of their own five minutes later, as a bouncing ball dropped to Yana Daniels, the forward couldn’t find the target from close range – with some of that being attributed to Mackenzie Arnold, who raced out to put pressure on her at the vital moment.
Both sides were at it from minute one, as they both battled for control of the match in the first 30 minutes. Konchesky’s side in particular had found a lot of success in winning the ball high up the pitch, but their final pass was the missing piece as they looked to unlock the Liverpool back-five.
Liverpool troubled the Irons with a balls into the area and throw ins from specialist Megan Campbell, but Arnold and her defence dealt with those with aplomb.
In the second half, it was the visitors who started the stronger. Emma Koivisto delivered a teasing driven cross that Grace Fisk had to be alive to as she cleared the ball away from danger.
Then, Lucy Parker gave the ball away cheaply in her own half and Liverpool cut through the Hammers defence who were transitioning. Thankfully, Katie Stengel had wandered into an offside position and could not punish her opponents.
An in-swinging corner from Kirsty Smith caused all kinds of issues for Rachel Laws, who backpedaled and managed to punch the ball off of her own goal-line to keep her side in front on 52 minutes.
Beard introduced Shanice van de Sanden, and the Dutch winger immediately gave Smith something else to think about, as she ran in behind and tried to test Arnold from an acute angle.
Likewise, Izzy Atkinson added something different for Konchesky’s team when she came on, delivering two wonderful crosses that players in Claret & Blue were unable to get near.
Late on, the Hammers could have had a shout for a penalty when Brynjarsdóttir’s cross appeared to strike Koivisto on the arm, but the referee was unmoved.
A late chance from Stengel caused Konchesky’s side concern, but the game eventually ended 0-0 as the Hammers got a point on the board in the WSL for the first time since February.
West Ham United: Arnold, Shimizu, Fisk, Parker, Smith, Hayashi, Brynjarsdottir, Filis (Snerle 57), Thestrup (Atkinson 57), Evans, Asseyi.
Subs not used: Hillyerd, Longhurst, Denton, Cooke, Cissoko, Houssein.
Liverpool: Laws, Koivisto (Roberts 87), Robe (Taylor 79), Bonner, Campbell (Matthews 64), Hinds, Nagano, Kearns (Lundgaard 64), Holland, Daniels (van de Sanden 64), Stengel.
Subs not used: Cummings, Kirby, Humphrey, Silcock.
Booked: van de Sanden 90+1
Attendance: 2,014
Referee: Jane Simms
