West Ham United Women Hand Shock Defeat to Arsenal Women

West Ham United 2 – 1 Arsenal. Match summary and key points from the match.

Arsenal’s pursuit of the WSL trophy look to be on the ropes, following a surprise defeat to West Ham United.

Arsenal and Lionesses fans were excited to see a team sheet that included Leah Williamson in the starting XI for the first time since her ACL injury. However, it was not the dream return that Williamson and her Arsenal team mates were hoping for.

The away side dominated the opening half but failed to convert possession into goals. There were large calls for an Arsenal penalty when the ball seemingly was handled when it got wedged between three West Ham players. The referee waved play on, despite the shouts from Arsenal players, coaching staff and fans.

Miedema continues comeback

A chance fell to Vivianne Miedema who dwelled on the ball too long, allowing Hayashi to make a crucial sliding tackle. You would expect a Miedema firing on all cylinders to have buried that opportunity but it was always going to take a while to regain match sharpness after such a long period on the sidelines.

The breakthrough came just before half-time, with Russo getting onto the scoresheet with her 5th WSL goal of the season. 1-0 to the Arsenal. Williamson was withdrawn at the halfway mark, a planned substitution as Eidevall looks to carefully manage her game time.

In the second half Arsenal were punished for their rued chances. Steph Catley was judged to have made contact with the player and not the ball, just inside the penalty box. West Ham’s Viviane Asseyi calmly tucked the ball into the net. It wasn’t long before Arsenal had more problems to deal with.

Zinsberger mistake allows Hammers to capitalise

A West Ham free kick was launched into the penalty area and Arsenal goalkeeper Zinsberger made a weak punch which landed at the feet of Cissoko. She still had some work to do but Cissoko swept the ball into the empty net. Incidents like these do nothing to dampen the calls for Arsenal to sign a new goalkeeper. Zinsberger recently signed a new contract at Arsenal, which left the potential Mary Earps signing up in the air.

Despite Arsenal’s attempts, they could not find an equaliser. The loss leaves them 6 points behind WSL leaders Chelsea, who managed a convincing 3-0 win over Everton in the Sunday evening kick off.