Match Report
WSL: West Ham v Manchester United
A 1-1 draw keeps Manchester United in third place as Man City move in to battle it out for the third Champions League spot.
Paul Donegan
18 March 2022
On a cold, wet and breezy Wednesday evening at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, West Ham played Manchester United in the WSL.
Manchester United had the first chance in the 3rd minute when a low cross was put wide by Ella Toone. Man United’s Diane Caldwell was shown the first yellow card of the game in the 7th minute after committing a foul.
West Ham’s first attempt came a minute later when Tameka Yallop had an effort saved by Mary Earps.
In the 16th minute, Man United saw a corner scrambled away before having a shot go wide. Two minutes later, Leah Galton dispossessed Hawa Cissoko then passed to Alessia Russo but Cissoko got back to make a tackle before Russo could have a shot.
West Ham’s Yallop was just unable to get onto Yui Hasegawa’s pass in the 25th minute.
It was Manchester United though who continued to create more of the chances and the next came two minutes later when Martha Thomas was just unable to get her head on a cross, and a minute after that she saw a header saved by Mackenzie Arnold.
A Katie Zelem corner caused problems in the 38th minute and Toone then saw a low shot from outside the area pushed away by Arnold.
Three minutes before half time, Thomas saw her long range lob hit the crossbar via Arnold’s hand with the West Ham goalkeeper getting to the loose ball first. The last chance of the first half fell to Jackie Groenen who saw her effort from outside the area saved.
The final action of the first half was a yellow card being shown to West Ham’s Gilly Flaherty for a foul. Manchester United had more of the first half opportunities but it was scoreless at the break.
It was Man United who started the second half on top too with Russo seeing a shot pushed away by Arnold in the 46th minute. A Zelem corner was pushed away before Toone’s shot from halfway inside the half went wide. Russo was then unable to get onto Galton’s cross.
In the 54th minute, Manchester United did take the lead when Ella Toone scored from close range with an acrobatic finish.
West Ham started to create chances after going behind with Kate Longhurst seeing her cross put over by Yallop in the 59th minute and Katerina Svitoka saw a long range shot go wide a minute later.
A cross from Man United’s Galton went right across goal but no one was able to get on the end of it.
Yallop saw another effort saved for West Ham in the 65th minute as West Ham continued to look for an equaliser.
At the other end, Kate Longhurst got a cross just before Galton in the 73rd minute.
Flaherty saw her header from a free kick claimed by Earps in the 84th minute before Manchester United’s Toone was booked five minutes later for kicking the ball away.
West Ham’s Svitoka headed wide Longhurst’s cross just before the game went into 5 minutes of injury time.
West Ham won a corner during this from which Grace Fisk’s headed hit the post and went in for a dramatic late equaliser.
There was still time for a succession of dangerous Zelem corners but there were no more goals as it finished 1-1.
Not for the first time this season Manchester United have let in a late goal after leading to draw a match. Also, not the first time West Ham have scored a late equaliser. The result leaves Man United third in the league but Manchester City are now only 3 points behind with a game in hand as the fight for final Champions League spot really hots up.
Teams
West Ham United: Arnold, Fisk, Flaherty, Cissoko, Longhurst, Hasegawa, Brynjarsdottir, Stringer (Evans 69’), Svitkova, Yallop, Leon (Parker 90’+4)
Unused substitutes: Wyne, Snerle, Walker, Filis, Leat, Joel, Houssein
Goal – Fisk 90’+3
Booked – Flaherty
Manchester United: Earps, Batlle, Caldwell, Zelem, Blundell, Groenen, Risa (Moore 68’), Toone, Galton, Thomas (Hanson 90’+4), Russo (Fuso 74’)
Unused substitutes: Harris, Baggaley
Goal – Toone 54’
Booked – Caldwell, Toone
Referee – Daniel Lamport
Attendance – 1,425