West Ham 0-4 Chelsea: Player ratings as Blues go top of WSL table
By Emily Keogh
Chelsea returned to the top of the WSL table after a comfortable 4-0 win over West Ham in Dagenham on Wednesday, setting rhe Blues' title charge in full speed.
Chelsea dominated against a poor West Ham to accelerate their chances of retaining the title after four different goalscorers stole the win for Emma Hayes's side.
Coming off two emphatic wins in the league earlier this month, Hayes made seven changes to her side that won the FA Cup final against Manchester United on Sunday, flexing impressive squad depth.
Niamh Charles opened the scoring early on for Chelsea after some impressive team play. Sam Kerr made an original attempt on goal that was blocked well by the West Ham defence, but visiting players were overrunning the box, making it inevitable that one would tap the rebound home.
Minutes later, a sloppy attempt at defending from Hawa Cissoko brought Johanna Rytting Kaneryd down, earning a convincing penalty shout from the visitors, but referee Louise Saunders declined to point to the spot.
Chelsea were still playing some beautiful football with link ups between Kerr, Pernille Harder and Jessie Fleming as they looked dangerous during Chelsea’s continuous press on home side.
Kerr and Harder were causing all sort of issues for keeper Mackenzie Arnold who pulled out an impressive save to deny a second goal. Cissoko found her way into book after a late barge on Kerr, inches away from gifting Chelsea a penalty, highlighting a danger point for the Irons.
With Chelsea dominating in chances and causing a nervy moment for Arnold, the Blues had the upper hand over the home side, despite struggling to add on to their early lead as half-time came.
Within moments of the second half starting, Sophie Ingle’s shot forced another big save from the Australian keeper. Less than a minute later, Harder doubled Chelsea’s lead after an impressive strike into the side netting foiled Arnold.
Whilst Evans was left alone upfront, needing support from her teammates, she was unable to beat Jess Carter to the punch, nothing coming from her lovely run towards the 18 yard box. Playing on the counter, Kerr sent her header wide, indicating that both sides had giving fight left as the game reached the hour mark.
A poor clearance in the box took the game away from the Irons as Arnold failed to properly clear Magdalena Erikson’s flick towards goal which fell for Ingle for head home. Whilst Arnold could have done better to clear, Chelsea’s dominance in the box was inevitable.
Viviane Asseyi was West Ham’s best chance at progressing up the pitch but support was rarely there for the French international as she tried to find her team a way back into the game.
Whilst a dynamic change from Chelsea injected some pace into the reigning title winners, West Ham overall put up a poor performance, being easily shrugged off the ball and rarely managing to create a chance, let alone find the back of the net.
West Ham had a rare but impressive chance, catching Zecira Musovic off her line, drawing her out of the box, allowing substitute Amelie Thestrup to line up a shot perfectly but some impressive defending from Carter and Buchanan denied the Irons a constellation goal.
In a flurry of attack in the final few minutes, Kate Longhurst narrowly missed a goal by inches after an impressive technical strike almost gave the home side a way back into the game.
As the game went to additional time, it was substitute Erin Cuthbert who, third time lucky, found the back of the net to wrap up a comfortable 4-0 win for Emma Hayes’s side.
West Ham United player ratings (5-3-2)
GK: Mackenzie Arnold - 6/10 - Dealt well with Chelsea's attack and minimised the damage.
RB: Risa Shimizu - 5/10 - Lost the battle of the wing as she could not contain Charles.
CB: Grace Fisk - 6/10 - Rarely troubled the Chelsea strikers but did pull off some good defending to limit the damage.
CB: Hawa Cissoko - 6/10 - Made some risky challenges but did well to close down Kerr.
CB: Amber Tysiak - 6/10 - Full debut, worked well in her pairings to hold Chelsea in the first half.
LB: Kirsty Smith - 5/10 - Had to put in the defensive miles so was unable to contribute to attacking play.
RM: Lisa Evans - 7/10 - Provided good attacking options moving forward.
CM: Lucy Parker - 7/10 - Stepped into midfield and did well to put in defensive miles when required.
LM: Kate Longhurst - 6/10- Did well to help West Ham gather momentum.
ST: Dagny Brynjarsdóttir - 7/10 - Aided defensively where needed. Provided an aerial challenge for.
ST: Viviane Asseyi - 7/10 - Looked dangerous moving forward and put the Chesea defence under pressure.
Substitutes
SUB: Emma Snerle (54' for Tysiak ) - 7/10
SUB: Honoka Hayashi (65' for Brynjarsdóttir ) - 6/10 - Used her pace well.
SUB: Amelie Thestrup (54' for Evans ) - 6/10 - Came inches away from a goal for the home side, did well to maintain possession moving forward.
SUB: Izzy Atkinson (81' for Asseyi ) - N/A
Manager
Paul Konchesky - 5/10 - Has a lot of talent in his team but seems to not know how to manage it well.
Chelsea player ratings (3-1-4-2)
GK: Zecira Musovic - 6/10 - Had little to do during the game.
CB: Kadeisha Buchanan - 6/10 - Made some good blocks to deny West Ham a way into the game.
CB: Jess Carter - 8/10 - Dominated at the back to prevent West Ham from breaking through the defences.
CB: Madgalena Erikson - 7/10 - Progressed the ball up the pitch and aided in attacking options when required.
DM: Sophie Ingle: - 9/10 - Controlled the midfield well and caused West Ham a lot of problems both defensively and moving forward.
RW: Jelena Cankovic - 6/10 - Did well to hold up West Ham's attacking players but meant she was unable to provide another option pressing forward.
CM: Johanna Rytting Kaneryd - 8/10 - Played an integral role and won the battle of the crosses. Causes problems all over the pitch
CM: Jessie Fleming - 7/10 - Had little impact on the game but her pace and ability to win the ball back aided Chelsea's dominance.
LW: Niamh Charles - 8/10 - Her early goal set the tone for Chelsea to stride their way through the game.
ST: Sam Kerr - 6/10 - Struggled to make the most of the chances gifted to her.
ST: Pernille Harder - 8/10 - Does what Harder does best; on the score sheet and splitting defences.
Substitutes
SUB: Guro Reiten (68' for Harder ) - 7/10 - Won the battle of the flank.
SUB: Lauren James (68' for Cankovic ) - 7/10 - Injected pace into the second half. Sped up attacking game.
SUB: Erin Cuthbert (68' for Fleming ) - 8/10 - Made a direct impact on the game and sough the fourth goal.
SUB: Katerina Svitkova (80' for Charles ) - N/A
SUB: Alsu Abdullina (80' for Kerr ) - N/A
Manager
Emma Hayes - 8/10 - Took the opportunity to make use of her squad and bench ahead of the weekend's biggest remaining test of the season against Arsenal.