BIRKENHEAD, England — Liverpool move up to ninth in the Women’s Super League with their first win of the season since opening day, a 2-0 win over West Ham on a wintery Sunday afternoon on The Wirral.
A miscommunication between West Ham midfielders Kate Longhurst and Honoka Hayashi gifted Liverpool’s Ceri Holland an early goal when she picked up the ball after the pair had gotten in each other’s way in the box. Under little pressure, Holland let a shot fly into the far side of goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold’s goal in the third minute.
Struggling without the ball, the Hammers continued to tangle themselves into knots at the back and were soon chasing a two-goal deficit after Liverpool’s Katie Stengel claimed her ninth goal of the season with a low strike in the 20 minute.
Despite second half adjustments that both strengthened their defence and helped their attack get into the game, West Ham failed to get the better of Liverpool goalkeeper Rachael Laws with the ball travelling from one end of the pitch to the other without another goal scored.
The second half marked with multiple stoppages for injuries resulting from chippy fouls, taking all the flow out of the match for both.
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Rapid reaction
1. Liverpool have been building to this win
Since shocking Chelsea on the first day of the season, Liverpool have repeatedly found themselves coming away from matches without anything to show for their 90 minutes of work.
Yet, much like the truncated 2019-20 season that saw them relegated on points per game, the Reds have rarely been completely played off the pitch but rather have failed to convert, leaving them chasing games.
