Women 5 – 0 West Ham United Women – Match Report

We made it nine wins in a row in all competitions with a blistering 5-0 win over West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Stina Blackstenius opened the scoring from close range just three minutes in after meeting Chloe Kelly’s excellent cross, before Alessia Russo doubled the lead with a powerful header after the break.

Kelly struck a fierce drive into the bottom corner to make it three and capitalised on a loose ball in the West Ham box to score the fourth, before Beth Mead completed a lovely one-two with Smilla Holmberg and curled home the fifth.

FIRST HALF

We wasted no time in taking the lead in what was our first game at Emirates Stadium for over a month. Kelly swung an enticing ball into the penalty area, which Blackstenius converted from close range after just four minutes.

Kelly almost had a goal for herself 12 minutes later, but after Kinga Szemik had denied Russo and Olivia Smith with a fine double save, our no.18 fired a powerful volley just over the bar.

Midway through the half, after West Ham’s first real spell of possession, we sprung a counter-attack with Mariona Caldentey threading an inch-perfect pass through to Blackstenius, but once again Szemik was on hand to deny us a second goal.

Second later, Blackstenius had another chance to double our lead after latching onto Smith’s cutback following another powerful run down the right wing from the Canadian, but the Swede’s effort crashed into the woodwork.

SECOND HALF

Just as we did in the first half, we came flying out of the traps after the break and scored with our first attack of the half. Smilla Holmberg made an excellent overlapping run on the right and teased a cross into the box which was met with an emphatic header by Russo to double our lead.

It was almost three in spectacular style just moments later when Smith hammered a ferocious volley off the crossbar from 20 yards, leaving the woodwork shaking.

The wait for the third goal didn’t last long though, as Kelly unleashed a spectacular drive from 20 yards out to put us in firm control of the contest ten minutes into the second half.

Shortly after Kelly’s goal, West Ham defender Eva Nystrom suffered a nasty head injury after making a fantastic sliding challenge on Blackstenius in front of goal, prompting a lengthy delay to the contest.

When the game resumed, we remained on top, and got the fourth when Kelly pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area to score her second of the afternoon.

We capped off a stunning performance with a wonderfully-worked fifth, curled into the corner in style off the left foot of Mead.

WHAT’S NEXT

Our run of London derbies continues with an eagerly-awaited UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea; the first leg takes place at Emirates Stadium at 8pm on Tuesday night.

A big week then continues with a north London derby against Spurs in N5 on Saturday evening, before the second leg of our Champions League tie against the Blues on Wednesday, April 1 at Stamford Bridge.