Arsenal visited West Ham at the Chigwell Construction Stadium today for another weekend of Barclays WSL entertainment. Arsenal lined up with Leah Williamson starting her first match since her ACL comeback, wearing the captain’s armband. The Gunners were missing Katie McCabe this game but had covered all bases with Vivianne Miedema in attack and Emily Fox joining Williamson in the back line. West Ham continued the trend, with Captain Mackenzie Arnold in goal. The Irons had goal scorers Hawa Cissoko on the backline with Viviane Asseyi upfront.
The game started with West Ham playing with physicality, defending well as a unit. Arsenal created dangerous chances throughout the first half, a possible handball by West Ham in the 20th minute, but nothing coming to fruition. Barclays player of the match, Honoka Hayashi (West Ham’s number 19) showcased her amazing defending, tackling a vicious shot off Vivianne Miedema, increasing frustration from the Gunners.
Mackenzie Arnold was kept on her toes, consistently saving attempts from Arsenal. Viviane Asseyi made a solid run down towards Manuela Zinsberger but overshoots. Miedema creates another chance in goal, but it’s deflected off the post. With halftime quickly approaching, both sides are looking to break deadlock until Alessia Russo achieves a header from Steph Catley’s corner in the 43rd minute.
Things are looking positive for the Gunners before half time, but with 3 minutes of added time, Asseyi equalises with a penalty! Netting the ball in the bottom left corner, she sends Zinsberger diving the other way.
At half time, Joans Eidevall sees Williamson come off for Amanda Ilestedt.
Coming into the second half, we see a change in the Irons who play more of an attacking style. This change pays off as not only do West Ham equalise in the 50th minute from Asseyi but achieve a lead only 8 minutes later from Cissoko. This succession of goals leads to a triple substitution from Arsenal, seeing Blackstenius, Cooney-Cross and Lacasse enter on the pitch.
Happy with their lead, West Ham seem to revert back to their first half defensive style, warding off any and all attempts to equalise from the Gunners. They hold on for the rest of the game, including the 5 minutes of extra time. Arsenal are unable to find the back of the net and the game ends 2-1 to West Ham.
This result sees Arsenal remain in 3rd in the Barclays WSL table and West Ham increase the gap between them and relegation battle rivals, Bristol City.
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