Manchester City have suffered back-to-back defeats on home soil for the first time since October 2014 following a 2-0 loss at the hands of West Ham United.
Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s goal in the first half set the visitors on their way in Greater Manchester, before Yui Hasegawa lobbed goalkeeper Karima Benameur Taieb from long-range in the second half to secure victory for the East Londoners at The Academy Stadium.
Last year’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League runners-up have had a slow start to the new campaign with injuries not helping their cause. They were sitting below the visitors in mid-table ahead of kick-off.
After beating Everton 4-0 on the opening day of the season, The Cityzens had suffered back-to-back league defeats at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. Head coach Gareth Taylor was hoping for a response from his side as they looked to leapfrog West Ham United in the league table.
Olli Harder’s West Ham United side went into this game off the back of a two-match unbeaten run which has seen them draw with Aston Villa, before collecting three points last weekend at home to newly-promoted Leicester City.
It was a quiet opening for both sides, with neither chance having a shot on target. The home side were on the front-foot, but had to remain patient against a determined and resilient West Ham United side.
It was Manchester City who had the game’s first real chance to break the deadlock, but neither Lauren Hemp or Ellen White could get onto the end of a low Janine Beckie cross into a crowded penalty area.
A big chance fell the way of the visitors just before the half-hour mark as they broke through the home defence on the counter. Claudia Walker received the ball in a centralised position in the penalty area, but her shot on the turn was blocked.
At the other end, goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold had to react quickly to keep out a Hemp effort with her legs after a mistake at the back saw the Manchester City attacker clear through on goal.
It would prove to be a costly miss for the home side as they were punished by the visitors two minutes later when they took the lead on the counter. Brynjarsdottir was free at the far post to head home beyond Taieb, following a cross in from the right by Hasegawa.
Arnold had to be alert immediately after her side went ahead, as she stood strong to twice deny Jess Park, as the youngster looked to find a way back into the game for Manchester City.
The West Ham United keeper then kept out a White shot from the edge of the area two minutes after the break, before Hemp fired wide with the rebound after finding herself unmarked.
The home side thought they had found a way back into the game after 63 minutes, but White was deemed to be offside by the linesman. She fired the ball low across the face of goal and into the bottom right corner beyond Arnold after being played in behind by Hemp but she had strayed offside.
Manchester City substitute Laura Coombs struck the post from distance in second half injury time which very much summed up the game for the home side, who lacked the cutting edge to find a way back into the contest.
The visitors made it 2-0 in second half injury time, courtesy of Hasegawa. A mistake at the back saw the West Ham United forward unmarked on the ball and she lobbed Taieb from distance after seeing the goalkeeper off her line as The Hammers made sure of the three points.
Taylor’s Manchester City side have crashed to their third successive league defeat in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. They will look to return to winning ways next weekend when they take part in the first Manchester derby of the season at the Leigh Sports Village.
The win moves West Ham United up to fourth in the league table, having only been defeated once so far this season. Harder’s side will look to build on the victory next weekend when they take on Birmingham City at The Chigwell Construction Stadium.
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