A late Shannon O’Brien equaliser rescued a point on the road for Leicester City, with West Ham banking their first of the WSL season.
Both head coaches know each other very well, Rick Passmoor having spent two seasons as Rehanne Skinner’s second-in-command – anhttps://thehalfwayline.com/category/womens-super-league/d for much of the game this seemed to serve to cancel out any tactical advantage for either side. It was more like a battle of wills.
This was one of those results that won’t necessarily feel like a draw to either team. West Ham will perhaps be ruing their slight conservativeness in opting to defend their lead rather than put the game to bed, and looked despondent in the huddle at full time. For the Foxes, after a few missed chances and a soft goal conceded, O’Brien’s goal will feel like the winner – and the Leicester players by contrast were beaming in the post-match team talk.
The Lineups
WHU: Szemik Endo, Tysiak, Zadorsky, Morgan, Siren, Gorry, Denton, Ueki, Martinez, Asseyi
LEI: Leitzig, Kees, Swaby, Thibaud, Cain, McLoughlin, Tierney, Ale, Van Egmond, Eiriksdóttir, Mouchon
The visitors made three changes to the starting XI that fell at home to Arsenal last week, with Emily Van Egmond, Hlín Eiriksdóttir and Noémie Mouchon coming in for captain Janice Cayman, who is carrying a small knock, Jutta Rantala, and Shannon O’Brien.
Rehanne Skinner’s side remained unchanged from the team that traveled to Manchester City last week.
The Action
The first half had all the hallmarks of two teams trying to feel each other out, with the momentum swinging numerous times, but it was clear where the opportunities would be. Vivianne Asseyi was immediately a threat, and her and Anouk Denton caused Leicester’s right-hand side headaches all afternoon.
In the opening exchanges Leicester often looked for Mouchon – making her first WSL start of the season – with an early ball over the top or into the channels, but the West Ham backline dealt with her well. Leicester pressed high and aggressively as the Hammers looked shaky trying to play out, and were often able to win the ball back in dangerous areas but not capitalise.
After the opening 20 minutes was dominated by the visitors, West Ham found a bit of a foothold. In the 28th minute, Denton found herself in space and cut in to take a shot from the edge of the box that almost dipped in to the top corner. Less than a minute later, the ball fell to Martinez in the box after a couple of clumsy Leicester clearances, who was denied by a block on the goal line from Julie Thibaud.
The biggest chance of the half fell to Sam Tierney, who pounced on a poor pass out from Oona Siren, and drove through the centre of West Ham’s defence unmarked, but was unable to place the ball in the top corner. In the 42nd minute Olivia McLoughlin forced a smart save from Szemik when the Hammers failed to clear their lines from a corner.
There were no changes at the break, and Leicester started off brightly but were again unable to capitalise on high turnovers. The opener came for the home side in the 51st minute – Denton blazed past Hannah Cain, and delivered a cross in which found Martinez, and a bit of a tangle between Sari Kees and goalkeeper Janina Leitzig saw the ball dribble over the line. A frustrating goal to concede, it appeared to knock the stuffing out of Leicester, who looked frazzled and likely to concede again, West Ham’s width continuing to cause issues.
Despite this, West Ham were unable to create much of note following their goal, and seemed content to manage the game to secure their first win of the season. Leicester changes saw Rantala, O’Brien, Rosella Ayane, and 17-year old-Nelly Las bring some much needed energy, gaining them territory and putting the home side under pressure for the closing stages, with West Ham looking increasingly fraught as the board went up to declare seven added minutes. A Leicester set piece in the dying moments of the game saw a miscued Denton defensive header fall to Kees. The defender calmly slotted the ball across the box to O’Brien, who had time to sort her feet out and fire it home past a helpless Szemik to clinch her side a point.
Leicester still figuring things out but finally benefitting from depth
This result extends Leicester’s run without a win on the road in the WSL – the last time they picked up three points being against Everton in January 2024. It’s perhaps an unfair record to level at this current iteration of the team, who are on their third manager since then.
Chance creation and goalscoring has been the main concern for Leicester so far this season. Going into this game they had generated the lowest xG in the league, with just 3.1. Attacking injury hangovers from last season plus having to get used to a new system under a new head coach have no doubt contributed to this. Their 23/24 top scorer Rantala is still building back to full fitness and sharpness after a knee injury saw her miss most of last season.
As another player who’s been building back to full fitness, Foxes fans will have been particularly pleased to see striker Mouchon get a start in today’s game. Again missing the majority of last season due to rupturing her ACL, she’s currently their top goal scorer in this campaign. Mouchon continued to look threatening as their main out ball but struggled to impose herself on the game as much as she has done coming off the bench.
It was the substitutions that made the difference for Leicester, something that wasn’t an option for them last season, when they often struggled to field a frontline of attacking players – Ruby Mace, Saori Takarada and Cayman all filling in the number 9 position at various points – let alone bring them off the bench. Rantala, Ayane, O’Brien and Las brought an injection of much-needed energy that enabled Leicester to creep up the pitch as West Ham hoped to cling on to the lead. This is the second time this season Leicester have rescued a point from going behind, and it speaks of a team with belief, but things to figure out. The fact that both of those late equalisers have come from substitutes also signals that they are able to benefit from their bench.
Passmoor speaks often in his press conferences and post-match comments about “principles” and “building processes”. Having only been with the team since early September, and confirmed as permanent head coach in early October, it’s understandable that his vision for the team will take time to come to fruition. In this game, they were forced to change their formation from their usual back 3 with wing backs to a back 4, due to injuries to Cayman and Heather Payne. This switch of system caused them issues, particularly on the right hand side as Cain struggled to balance getting forward with her defensive duties, with repurposed centre back Julie Thibaud behind her.
West Ham have plenty of bark but no bite
If Leicester’s struggles in front of goal this season can be attributed to a few mitigating factors, West Ham’s are a bit of a head scratcher. Going into this game, a West Ham player had yet to register a goal from open play, and they had the worst shot-on-target percentage in the league. Unlike Leicester, they have the same manager and the same core of players. Ueki, Asseyi, and especially Martinez all had fantastic returns particularly towards the end of last season, but have struggled to continue that form in this campaign. They have also looked significantly shakier at the other end of the pitch, having already conceded just over half of the total goals they conceded in the WSL last season.
As their former assistant manager, Passmoor summed it up well before the game: “They’re in a false position in some respects, because in a lot of games, they are playing well. They’re well drilled, and at the moment it’s just about how they’re performing in both boxes.” This certainly played out in the first half, with Asseyi and Denton running amok down Leicester’s left but unable to put quality balls in. There’s certainly no lack of quality in all areas of the pitch, Denton especially impressing both defensively (misjudged header on Leicester’s equaliser aside) and in her forays forward. But perhaps there is a slight lack of belief – in particular, an attacking group that seemed full of confidence in front of goal last season suddenly seem a bit unsure about what to do when they find themselves in dangerous areas.
Martinez is one player they will certainly want to see regain her confidence. Her first goal of the season won’t go down as a vintage one, but finally getting the ball in the back of the net after a relative dry spell in the league will be sure to boost her and her team’s belief. You feel with the threat they are able to pose in the wide areas, if they can get quality deliveries into her, perhaps looking at more low deliveries as lead to today’s goal, she’ll capitalise. When they played more centrally, she had the better of Leicester’s centre backs a number of times with her physicality and technical ability, but in those scenarios was isolated and unable to work into good opportunities on her own.
The nature of the late equaliser will I’m sure be dissected by their set piece coach – but will feel disappointed that they didn’t put the game to bed when Leicester were on the ropes.
