Goals from Katie McCabe and Lia Walti were enough for Women’s Super League Champions Arsenal to beat West Ham 2-0 in their fourth round FA Cup tie at Rush Green.
Amidst a mixed season for Matt Beard’s side, they looked to replicate last year’s FA Cup magic where they made it to the final of the competition.
Early Shots From The Gunners
From the first whistle, Arsenal looked the aggressors and began to stock up early chances through Beth Mead’s close-range header and Vivianne Miedema’s chip which just rose over the bar.
It was Katie McCabe who would break the deadlock for the Gunners after just 16 minutes. After patient build up play on the right wing, the ball was pulled back across a congested West Ham penalty area which allowed McCabe to latch onto Kim Little’s pass to rifle in a left footed strike into the top right corner.
Backs To The Wall
It wasn’t long before the visitors looked like they’d go on to double their lead until Courtney Brosnan got down well to her right to push Leonie Maier’s shot round the post.
Moments later, West Ham’s defence were stretched as a counterattack from Arsenal was untidily cleared by Katharina Buanach but Little’s goal-bound strike was cleared again by the German defender to atone for her error.
The closest West Ham came to celebrating an equaliser in the first half was through Julia Simic who met Kenza Dali’s low cross on the right wing but her diving header glanced wide of Manuela Zinsberger’s goal.
The second half started with Brosnan being called into action, this time to deny the perennial threat Mead, who looked to have finished off a well worked counterattack, but her side-footed effort was stopped by the outstretched leg of the West Ham shot stopper.
Growing Pressure
Dali, who has often been West Ham’s shining light this season, gave the Rush Green faithful a rare moment to get excited about after her left-footed volley from 10 yards out struck the stanchion behind the goal.
This near miss gave West Ham a new breath of life and the home side began to put some chances together for the first time in the match.
Kate Longhurst was presented with a good opportunity to equalise but a scrambled block by the Arsenal defence snubbed the attack.
Ending With A Flourish
Just as West Ham began to gain a foothold in the game, Arsenal sealed the tie with a goal in the 73rd minute. Mead was the creator yet again, as her cross from an Arsenal corner found midfielder Lia Walti, who had the space to side foot it past the helpless Brosnan to score her first goal for the club.
Longhurst and Dali both managed to put long range efforts on target in the late minutes to try and claw back, but both were comfortable saves for Zinsberger.
Meidema nearly extended Arsenal’s lead as the game came to an end, but was denied by a brilliant Brosnan save, as well as a goal-line clearance from substitute Jacynta Galabadaraachichi who was brought on in place of Esmee de Graaf.
It’s back to WSL action for West Ham next week, as they look to contest in a fourth London derby in five games in all competitions. Despite a daunting visit to Chelsea this Sunday, Matt Beard told the club website that belief is key to beating the top teams. “We need to believe in ourselves against these top teams. We’ve got some very good players in this team, established internationals and winners, and we can hurt teams. We just need to believe we can beat these teams.”
