In a league where as many points separate first and second as sixth and 12th, the interest lies towards the bottom and West Ham’s impressive comeback from two goals down to win 5-2 against Crystal Palace has nullified relegation talk, for now.
Goals from Viviane Asseyi, Seraina Piubel, Manuela Paví, Anouk Denton and Katrina Gorry for the Hammers cancelled out the early lead Mille Gejl and Indiah-Paige Riley had given the visiting side at a bitterly cold and wind-lashed Victoria Road.
West Ham, Palace and Leicester began the day level on five points and with the Midlands side suffering a 4-0 loss to Manchester City there was an opportunity for one of the other relegation threatened sides to put a slither of daylight between themselves and bottom. That is how tight things are in the WSL, just five points separating Tottenham in sixth, on 10 points, and Palace in 12th, on five, by close of play.
For the fourth time in five games Laura Kaminski’s Palace took the lead, this time their opener came in the fifth minute, Kirsty Smith dispossessed in the final third before Annabel Blanchard fed Gejl who slotted the ball under goalkeeper Kinga Szemik and in.
By the 11th minute their cushion was doubled, Riley cutting onto her left before bobbling the ball into the bottom corner.
“We’re scoring goals and creating chances, which is important,” Kaminski had said prior to the meeting in Dagenham. She is right, Palace have looked efficient moving the ball forward in their maiden WSL season, they have a visible structure, but they have struggled with consistency across 90 minutes. “Now, it’s about managing moments in games. We’ve been working hard on composure and control,” Kaminski said.
Unfortunately for the manager of the visiting team, those efforts are yet to yield reward on the pitch. The fact that only Aston Villa had dropped more points, eight, from winning positions than Crystal Palace, seven, prior to the meeting with West Ham was a sign of things to come.
The Hammers pulled their first back through Asseyi, the French forward side-footing in at the far post after Piubel pinged a cross in from the right.
Piubel found the net herself for the equaliser, Australian midfielder Gorry released the Swiss forward on the right, and she slotted past Shae Yanez at the near post.
The comeback was complete by half-time, Riko Ueki’s ball floated into the box and shielded by Asseyi allowing Paví to slot in.
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There was a lot less excitement after the break, the West Ham fans singing “we want four” past the hour mark with the goals having dried up. Palace went closest to scoring next though, Katie Stengel, booked earlier for kicking the ball away after the whistle had gone, spinning around a defender before seeing her low strike smothered by Szemik.
Skinner’s side would seal the win with less than 10 minutes remaining to kill any hopes of a point for the visiting side, Denton firing into the corner after a mazy run from just inside the opposition half, before Gorry added a fifth in stoppage time, turning in at the far post after the ball was diverted into her path.
West Ham’s future looks more comfortable for now, their two wins coming against fellow WSL bottom-feeders Leicester and Palace. Aston Villa await next weekend, before the winter break, for a chance to further express their WSL credentials. For Palace, composure and defensive solidity can’t come soon enough.
