City extend unbeaten run to eight with West Ham win | OneFootball

Manchester City extended our unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions following a professional 1-0 Barclays Women's Super League win against West Ham.

Aoba Fujino’s calm finish proved the difference at the Joie Stadium as she found the bottom right corner after Vivianne Miedema had carved open the Hammers’ defence.

Both sides had chances to add to the scoreline, with Viviane Asseyi and Gracie Prior both striking the woodwork.

But City held on for a fifth home win in a row and first clean sheet of the season, which means we remain just one point and place off top spot in the WSL.

What Happened

The Hammers spent the majority of the opening 15 minutes pressing City high up the pitch and looking to force mistakes, but it was some of their slick passing which almost brought about the first goal.

After some quick passing outside the area, a ball was threaded into the box by Katrina Gorry, setting Riko Ueki up with a one-on-one against her international colleague Ayaka Yamashita, but City’s shot stopper saved well with her legs.

At the other end, a driving run forward from Miedema saw the pitch open up momentarily, before seeing the ball fall to Bunny Shaw on her left, who's strike was dragged wide of the far post.

Despite that chance for City, West Ham continued to threaten.

The pace of Ffion Morgan allowed her to burst forward and pick out Asseyi in the middle but the Hammers' only goalscorer this season snatched at the ball and fizzed her effort well over.

However, the game's opening goal would come soon after, with Miedema winning the ball and driving forward, attracting three defenders to her.

She then played a perfectly timed ball to Fujino, who put us ahead with a calm finish into the bottom corner.

While we found ourselves ahead, Asseyi continued to cause problems by running in behind and, despite dinking the ball over the onrushing Yamashita after meeting Shekiera Martinez's pass, her effort bounced off the bar.

It was a let-off for City but, after the break, we began to dictate the tempo and look to grind down West Ham at the Joie Stadium.

With how compact the second-half was, dead-ball situations were going to be critical and that almost proved to be the case when Prior rose highest to meet Yui Hasegawa’s free kick and thumped an effort off the bar before it was hacked away by the visitors.

City still pressed for a second as West Ham legs started to tire, with Laura Blindkilde Brown also going close late on when she arrived in the box late and unmarked.

But with the goal at her mercy, she struggled to keep her effort down as it sliced over the bar, meaning we had to settle for a one-goal win.

Impeccable at the back

Our first clean sheet of the season coincided with a professional display from City, but we were thankful to Ayaka Yamashita for denying a couple of big West Ham chances.

She was on hand to deny Ueki in the first half, including a smart one-on-one save to keep the scores level, but also looked assured on the ball as we saw out the win.

Dictating the game

In what was a tight affair and one in which West Ham looked to disrupt and break with pace, the ability of Miedema to take control and glide past players was invaluable.

On numerous occasions our Dutch international took the game by the scruff of its neck and drove at the West Ham defence, forcing them to back pedal and create space.

This was how the winning goal came about, and picking the right pass to Fujino summed up her display on the ball.

Rose to the occasion

With Alex Greenwood unavailable through injury, centre half Jade Rose played a key role in marshalling the City defence.

Composed on the ball and physical off it, the Canada international barely put a foot wrong at the Joie Stadium.

How We Lined Up

CITY XI: Yamashita, Casparij, Prior, Rose, Ouahabi, Blindkilde Brown, Fujino, Hasegawa, Miedema, Shaw, Beney (Coombs 76)

Subs: Keating, Clinton, Wienroither, Knaak, Thomas, Oldroyd, Burdon, Shikhshabekova

West Ham XI: Szemik, Endo (Brasero 87), Tysiak, Zardorsky, Denton, Siren ,(Csiki 74) Gorry, Morgan (Hanshaw 79), Asseyi, Ueki, Martinez (Wandeler 75)

Subs: Waslsh, Belloumou, Pavi, Nystrom, Houssein

What It Means

Another win and a first clean sheet, yet again, showed more signs of profession this season and a sign of our intentions.

Another three points sees us maintain our spot second in the table and just one point behind leaders Chelsea.

Up Next

City are on the road next week in the Barclays Women’s Super League against Everton on Sunday, 9 November.

Kick off at Goodison Park is set for 14:30 (UK) as we aim to maintain our positive run of results, which has seen us go unbeaten in eight games.