Matt Beard celebrated his 50th match in charge of West Ham with a clinical win against bottom of the league Liverpool in the Women’s Super League.
Braces for Martha Thomas and Adriana Leon secured a first league win since playing Brighton at home last month.
Two late goals from Liverpool’s Rachel Furness proved nothing more than a consolation in the end.
The Perfect Start
Matt Beard was quickly rewarded for his decision to reintroduce Adriana Leon to the starting line-up.
The striker received the ball whilst on a counterattack, cut in on her right foot and beat the keeper at her near post giving an early lead to The Hammers.
They didn’t have to wait long before doubling their lead, as Alisha Lehmann made a break on the right wing, and her low cross found Martha Thomas, who finished just two minutes after Leon’s opener.
Within two minutes of her goal, Leon came close to making it three with an attempted lob but Liverpool’s keeper, Anke Preuss easily caught the striker’s effort.
Liverpool struggled to create anything in the first half, with their only chance coming through Niamh Charles low driven shot was comfortably collected by Anna Moorhouse in the West Ham goal.
Magical Martha
West Ham set off in the second half in very similar ilk to the first. It took Thomas only seven minutes into the second half to score her second and make it three nil to the home side.
An excellent turn by Thomas from just outside of the Liverpool box to lose her defender before striking back across the keeper into the bottom far corner gave West Ham a well-deserved 3-0 lead.
It was mere minutes before West Ham added their fourth in the shape of Leon’s second goal of the afternoon to give the East London side their biggest lead in the WSL this season. Thomas becoming the creator for this one and putting a low cross in for Leon, who finished ruthlessly despite an oncoming tackle from a Liverpool defender.
Liverpool Fightback
West Ham began to relax with their lead, and this showed when they failed to clear Christie Murray’s long pass into the box which allowed Furness tapped a close range effort.
This is how the game would stay until the very final minute when Furness scored her second from a corner. Her looping header into the middle of the goal gave Moorhouse little chance to keep it out.
Thomas, who ended the game with two goals and an assist praised West Ham’s attacking dominance on the club’s website. “We created lots of chance and to score four, after a bit of a goal drought, is massive for us.”
This performance came just one week after returning from a spell on the side-line and she stated her happiness to be playing. “To build off of the 75 minutes against Reading and then to get two goals and an assist against Liverpool, I’m really happy. I just want to keep building now.”
Fisk Fighting For Fitness?
In what was a good day for The Hammers, the downside to their victory was the injury to Grace Fisk, who was substituted early into the second half.
Fisk had been walking uncomfortably on her way to the changing room, but Matt Beard hasn’t provided an update on her status.
It could prove to be a crucial blow for Fisk who had been named into Phil Neville’s England squad.
West Ham now have a three week break to rest before coming back against in the return fixture against Manchester United where they’ll look to repeat their memorable victory against the Red Devils from earlier in the season.
