West Ham United manager Olli Harder says that the decision to send off Hawa Cissoko for a hand ball killed his side’s chances of taking any points from their fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion at The Amex Stadium this afternoon.
Cissoko was dismissed in the 32nd minute for committing a hand ball in the area before Inessa Kaagman netted the resulting penalty kick for the hosts. Lee Geum-min added a second goal as a new-look West Ham United side fell to a 2-0 opening day defeat in Sussex.
Speaking in the post-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present, West Ham United boss Harder admitted that the red card killed the contest and insisted that Cissoko’s hand ball was not deliberate.
“It pretty much killed the game;” Harder said. “We were on top. We were here to get points and that’s very difficult to do when you have 10 players on the pitch so that’s obviously frustrating.
“It’s a double jeopardy. The bottom line is that I am happy to go one goal down when I have got 11 players on the pitch, I think we still win the game. I am not happy with the fact that they have had the penalty, the hand ball and a red card when potentially it wasn’t a deliberate hand ball.”
Looking back on the full 90 minutes, Harder was happy with the overall effort of his side and had plenty of positives to take away.
He added “It shows a lot of character from our team to go out and play with 10 players for 60 minutes and create the chances that we have.
“Anyone watching the game could arguably say that it could have been 2-2, we had chances and we made the effort to get out and not sit back and do double shifts basically as we were one player down.
“It’s a huge credit to girls the way that they communicated, the way that they worked together, that was important for me. I was very unhappy with not taking points away but very pleased with the reaction from a great group of girls.”
West Ham United handed out six full debuts and Harder singled out midfielder Zaneta Wyne for special praise.
“It’s difficult under trying circumstances, I thought everyone deserved a pat on the back;” he said. “When you go a player down, it’s all about spirit and heart and commitment and they all showed that.
“I thought Zaneta Wyne in particular, showed some good moments, good quality, good energy up and down the pitch but I thought everyone was fantastic.”
West Ham United will be hoping to now get some points on the board in their next match against Aston Villa at The Chigwell Construction Stadium on Saturday.
About The Author
