London City Get Revenge Against West Ham in Gritty Subway Cup Win
The last time East met South London, West Ham claimed a somewhat surprising 2-1 victory over London City, and are thus far the only team to have taken points off the Lionesses in the WSL this season. The Hammers therefore came to the Chigwell Construction Stadium with the same hunger to win on Wednesday evening, hoping to continue their unbeaten streak in the Subway Player’s Cup and pull off another upset.
The two sides came into the match up separated by just one point and one place in the Cup table, with London City in 5th and West Ham in 6th. The visitors however were careful not to repeat their mistakes, and a daring sense of attack overruled a respectable effort by the Hammers to earn London City the three points and their third successive win in the Cup.
Starting XIs:
West Ham United: Constance Picaud-Inconnu (GK), Ylinn Tennebø, Delphine Cascarino, Eva Nyström, Yu Endo, Saki Kumagai, Oona Siren, Vivianne Asseyi ©, Seraina Piubel, Leila Wandeler, Kelly Gago
Substitutes: Megan Walsh (GK), Laia Codina, Inès Belloumou, Katie Zelem, Sienna Wareing, Nadine Riesen, Ffion Morgan, Niamh Peacock, Sude Öztaş
London City Lionesses: Mary Earps (GK), Jana Fernández, María Pérez, Alexia Putellas ©, Elena Linari, Nikita Parris, Nicole Anyomi, Delphine Cascarino, Izzy Goodwin, Rosa Kafaji, Janni Thomsen
Substitutes: Elene Lete (GK), Isa Kardinal, Daniёlle Van De Donk, Freya Godfrey, Daniela Arques, Kadidiatou Diani, Aya El Bergui, Grace Geyoro, Corinne Henson
A Dynamic and Driven First-Half
London City were quick to start pushing themselves up the pitch, with Picaud-Iconnu being forced to come out of her box and colliding with Izzy Goodwin in the first minute to collect the ball, but West Ham were equally quick on the rebound, with an essential tackle by Fernández stopping Kelly Gago’s sure run towards the Lionesses’ goal. The quick pace of the game started from these opening moments, with London City getting their first shot on target in the 5th minute, an effort from Rosa Kafaji that was saved by Picaud-Iconnu.
West Ham earnt themselves the first corner of the game shortly afterwards, which London City struggled to get out of the box before it landed to Nyström, whose header was saved by Earps. A series of untidy passes led to the ball being held by London City in the opposing half for a significant spell, not quite getting that clinical attempt in front of goal, but certainly looking like the team ready to break through. Picaud had to make two saves in quick succession in the 16th minute after striking efforts by London City outside of the box, and after earning a throw-in, the Lionesses had yet another attempt, a shot from Nikita Parris that sailed over the crossbar. London City seemed unafraid of taking chances from far out, with another attempt coming from Janni Thomsen from out to the left, but again, it found itself heading over the goal. At this point, it seemed difficult to remember the last time West Ham had been in London City’s half.
Unsurprisingly, London City did eventually break through in the 29th minute, after Nyström was left struggling with the ball on the ground, Nicole Anyomi dispossessed her, and with Picaud off her line and no defenders to battle with, struck into the right corner of the goal.
West Ham seemed to fight back quickly though, with Wandeler making a great run up the right side of the pitch with what seemed to be their best chance in a while, but her attempt found Earps’ gloves. The Hammers were certainly gaining momentum after London City’s goal, with another attempt coming just a minute later, a great attempt by Kumagai in the 33rd minute that went just wide, but seemed to promise that more was coming from West Ham. Piubel forced Earps into a save quickly afterwards, and earnt West Ham a corner as their attacking prowess seemed to be building significantly.
After an initial deflection by Earps, Gago chased after the ball and got it back into the box, where Yu Endo cleverly laid it off to Vivianne Asseyi to the right, who, with a stunning strike, got the ball past Earps and high into the net for her second goal of the season against London City. West Ham had managed to turn their half around and equalise both in their apparent threat, as well as in the score.
Anyomi attempted to get her second to see the Lionesses back on top shortly before the break with a shot from close range, but this time Picaud was there to keep her team level. Three minutes of added time saw more threat from London City, with a cross from Cascarino headed wide from the right by Nikita Parris as the first of their two attempts in added time.
Unfortunately for the Hammers, London City’s second attempt was successful, with an excellent pass from Thomsen providing Goodwin with a great path from the left of the box, and her smooth finish saw it land in the top right of the goal to put the Lionesses up once more.
Half time: West Ham 1-2 London City Lionesses
A Goalless Second Half to Deny West Ham a Comeback
The second half started with a series of substitutions, Leila Wandeler coming off for Katie Zelem for West Ham, and London City taking off Spanish duo Alexia Putellas and Fernández in favour of Isa Kardinaal and Daniela Arques.
West Ham earnt a free kick in a dangerous position in the 47th minute, a golden opportunity for the Hammers to fight back early into this half, but Asseyi curled the ball just to the left of the goal to leave it as a missed attempt. It was London City’s turn to have an attempt in the minutes afterwards, after a shot from Thomsen almost caused Picaud to drop the ball, but the Hammer’s keeper managed to ensure that it was collected in the end. Neither team was particularly capable of maintaining possession at this point, both sides getting somewhat far towards the opposing goal, but not being able to successfully keep the ball from straying back towards the centre of the pitch.
Half-time substitute Isa Kaardinal was forced to come off due to injury in the 60th minute, and was replaced with England International Freya Godfrey, while goalscorer Nicole Anyomi was taken on off for Kadidiatou Diani. West Ham also took the opportunity to get some fresh legs on, with Vivianne Asseyi and Kelly Gago leaving the pitch in favour of Belloumou, Morgan and Codina.
The half seemed to gain some momentum after these substitutions, for London City anyway, with Picaud-Iconnu tipping over the crossbar a powerful shot by Arques from outside of the box that seemed sure to be heading in. Ffion Morgan was providing promise for West Ham with some excellent positioning and an invigorated energy up front, but the ball never quite seemed to land at her feet.
Likewise, substitution Freya Godfrey livened up London City’s attack, and shot from the left in the 70th minute to force Picaud-Iconnu into a difficult save. Cascarino was taken off for Geyoro in the 76th minute, as they looked to push harder to increase and secure their lead. Tennebø pushed on the other side of the pitch, striking just wide of the goal at the 78th minute, as the second half seemed destined to never be able to produce a goal.
The changes continued, Oona Siren was replaced by Sude Öztaş, with Gaurino seeming in a state of desperation to get her side to claw back a goal. A Zelem free kick in the 89th minute gave them another chance to push themselves into a point, but London City were not letting up this late in the game, and the Hammers’ work in the opposing half was simply not enough. Five minutes of added time was unfortunately not in their favour despite a real push to get the ball up and a close Zelem shot that landed on the side of the net. West Ham had a last-ditch attempt in a free kick in the last minute of added time that earnt them a corner, but it was saved by Earps, leaving the full-time whistle to sound on a win for London City.
Full time: West Ham 1-2 London City
Rita Guarino’s Post-Match Reaction:
Despite the loss, Guarino had a lot to be proud of for her team, and praised the strong showing of her side:
“Yeah, the positive things is the reaction of the team, especially in the second half after go down in the first and the last second of the first half. So very happy for the reaction, the fighting during the game. I saw we create also some good chances. So happy for the performance of the team.”
When asked about how her side can improve and learn before facing Brighton away in the WSL this weekend, she had a clear idea of what was missing:
“We need to improve our quality with the ball in progression, especially because in the first half we lost a lot of balls, so we need to improve this. But another positive things that we can bring in the game is the this kind of reaction that that players have the the personality that they have”