West Ham United manager Olli Harder said that Manchester City deserved to win this afternoon’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup semi-final at The Chigwell Construction Stadium, although the 4-1 scoreline was harsh on his side.
West Ham United started brightly in Dagenham yet they found themselves 2-0 down courtesy of goals from Ellen White and Chloe Kelly. Lisa Evans pulled one back towards the end of the first half but Manchester City completed the job in the second period with a brace from Lauren Hemp.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, West Ham United boss Harder said that he had no complaints with the defeat but the scoreline was not truly reflective of his side’s performance.
“There were lots of parts in the game plan that were really good and we caused them lots of problems, we were in the game,” Harder said.
“The last two goals made City look better which is unfortunate. They deserved to win today, they were far more clinical in-front of goal but 4-1 doesn’t reflect the fact that we were in control for parts of the game.
“Full credit to City and fair enough, they’re walking away 4-1 but from our part of the game, we felt that it was a lot closer than 4-1.”
Following this afternoon’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup exit, West Ham United must turn their attention back to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and the battle for a top half finish. Given where the club were 12 months’ ago, manager Harder is taking the positives from this season.
He said “It has been a tremendous effort from us going from almost being relegated last year to a Conti Cup quarter-final, an FA Cup semi-final and the most points on the board for a West Ham team with three games to go. We just have to push now and try to finish the season as positive as possible and then we will regroup and see how next year goes.”
West Ham United are back in Barclays FA Women’s Super League action next Sunday when they travel to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to face Reading.