West Ham has been a tricky fixture for Arsenal over the last 18 months. Their 3-0 win at Meadow Park early this season was not as comfortable as it may seem on paper, with the Hammers creating a lot of good chances – and when the Gunners visited Chigwell last season, it was the home of a frustrating evening for Jonas Eidevall’s side who struggled to break down a rugged low block and left with a disappointing 0-0 draw.
However, buoyed by an unbeaten start to 2024, and the return of captain Leah Williamson, Eidevall would be hoping his side made easier work of a West Ham outfit coming off only their second win of the WSL season against Bristol City last week.
WHU: Arnold; Zadorsky, Tysiak, Cissoko; Smith, Ziu, Gorry, Hayashi, Shimizu; Ueki, Asseyi
ARS: Zinsberger; Catley, Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Fox; Pelova, Wälti; Foord, Miedema, Mead; Russo
Arsenal started the first half in a lively fashion, with the returning Leah Williamson being heavily involved early. Her range of passing, coupled with Viviane Miedema’s movement, caused the West Ham backline a lot of problems early, however, nothing came from this early dominance.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe visitors were aggressively pressing early on while leaving Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead hugging the touchline to offer greater width and create space between a defiant low-block, with the best early chance coming from a dangerous Mead corner that led to some poor miscommunication in the area and an appeal for a penalty for handball, that ultimately wasn’t given.
West Ham did grow into the game however as Arsenal’s intensity dropped, and the home side were able to keep possession. Their best chance came as Hawa Cissoko intercepted a wayward Russo pass and pushed her team forward to lay a ball off for Viviane Asseyi, who put the shot well over.
It took until the 43rd minute for the opening goal, as Russo found some space in the box and headed home from a perfect corner from Steph Catley. There was a sigh of relief around the away end as the Gunners had finally capitalised on their first-half dominance, however there would be a very different atmosphere come the second half.
It was a dream restart for West Ham – after Williamson was replaced by Amanda Ilestedt, Catley’s mistimed challenge on Honoka Hayashi led to a penalty that was hit hard into the top left corner by Asseyi.
Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal in the 58th minute. After a period in which they couldn’t seize back control of the game, a weak Manuela Zinsberger punch from a West Ham corner landed at Hawa Cissoko’s feet, and she finished beautifully to put the Hammers 2-1 up.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis allowed West Ham to go back to playing the low-block that Arsenal have struggled with for the majority of Eidevall’s reign – and he panicked to fix this nightmare situation, introducing a plethora of attacking substitutions to bring his side a different dimension.
The final twenty minutes played out with the familiar pattern of Arsenal passing the ball around the box looking for an opening that never came, with no real creativity or movement from the visitors leading to a crushing 2-1 defeat – and what is no doubt the end of another title push for Arsenal.
For West Ham, this is the first time all season they’ve managed two wins on the bounce, and after a well-deserved win against a top side, Rehanne Skinner will be hoping that the Hammers can put their disappointing first half of the season to bed.