West Ham earned two points from the opening match of their Continental Tyres League Cup campaign after overcoming London City Lionesses in an entertaining 90 minutes of football, followed by a marathon penalty shootout.
The match had finished 2-2 at the end of normal time as goals from Lois Heuchan and Sarah Ewens put the Championship side ahead, before Viviane Asseyi and a late Dagny Brynjarsdottir equaliser brought the WSL side West Ham level.
After dominating the first quarter of the games possession the Hammers were undone by an uncharacteristic error from goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold who flapped at a cross and missed, leaving a simple tap in for London City’s Lois Heuchan at the back post.
The Championship side later doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when Sarah Ewens headed a whipped in cross from right back Grace Neville beyond a helpless Arnold.
Comeback
West Ham halved the deficit just five minutes later when Vivianne Asseyi bundled the ball in at the near post to score her first goal for the club after signing from Bayern Munich in the summer. With time almost up and after missing some presentable chances to equalise club captain Dagny Brynjarsdottir rose to score a trademark header in the fourth minute of added time.
The epic penalty shootout that followed became a test of nerves as much as ability, nobody was able to shirk the responsibility of taking a penalty as all 22 players who had finished the match were required to step up to the spot at least once. The game eventually concluding when London City forward Lily Agg blazed her effort, the 26th of the contest, over the crossbar.
West Ham were awarded the extra point as a result and now find themselves second in group C, a point behind Birmingham City at the top. Last season West Ham made it to the quarter-final stage of this competition and will be hoping to put together another cup run during this campaign.
Character
Speaking to whufc.com, Head Coach Paul Konchesky spoke of his pride at his team’s efforts, “The players showed brilliant character to bring the game back to 2-2, and obviously winning the penalty shootout it another big positive.”
However, West Ham’s success may have come at a cost as both Jess Ziu and Lucy Parker suffered injuries during the 90 minutes. Parker’s injury comes just a matter of days before she is scheduled to meet up with the England Lionesses squad at St George’s Park for the first time.
Konchesky appeared to play down the extent of the injury after match stating, “Lucy Parker didn’t feel quite right out there, so we brought her off as a precaution.”
History Maker
On a brighter note, history was made at kick-off when 17-year-old midfielder, Keira Flannery, became the youngest woman ever to play a competitive fixture for the club. The significance of the moment will not have been lost on Flannery who grew up as a West Ham fan and has previously walked out of the tunnel as a mascot with Kevin Nolan at Upton Park.
International Break
The club game now makes way for another international break as several West Ham players head off to represent their respective countries. Hammers fans will be hoping that Lucy Parker’s injury is not too serious and that she can earn some minutes for England in their fixtures against USA and Czech Republic.
Edited by Malachi Gowie
