Freya Taylor and Lyndsey Bissell

Tue 14 March 2023 12:10, UK

We’re delighted to welcome author Freya Taylor and former academy player Lyndsey Bissell as our exclusive Aston Villa Women experts. Each week they’ll be collaborating to give their views on the biggest talking points at the WSL club…

It feels like we’ve seen West Ham women quite a lot recently, but as Aston Villa were looking to extend their undefeated streak to six games, and having never won against West Ham in the Women’s Super League, were Villa women now ready to secure their first victory?

Villa started the game well, showing character and confidence on the ball and keeping their cool from the pressure West Ham were starting to apply.

We mentioned last week, we’d love to see the relationship between Jordan Nobbs and Sarah Mayling develop and we’re so pleased to report that their link-ups were much better this time around. Clearly, this has been an area of focus in training and now the foundation is there, we can’t wait to see how this improves for the remainder of the season.

The first chance of the game occurred in the 9th minute, as Kenza Dali made a lovely cross into the box. Nobbs made contact but couldn’t get the right angle on the volley and it sailed over the crossbar.

On the counter, Viviane Asseyi was pressing hard for West Ham and would prove to be a thorn in the Villans’ side throughout the match. This ebb and flow would continue for most of the game, with half-chances created at both ends. The defence of both teams standing firm.

Nobbs had another chance on goal soon after, which was more accurate with a great first touch, but the finish wasn’t quite there and over the bar, it went again. Throughout the match, Mayling and Kirsty Hanson showed much determination to win the ball and were hungry to help their team create chances.

Elsewhere, Alisha Lehmann also had another great match against her former team, producing some good footwork around the West Ham defence in order to keep possession.

Previously, we’ve mentioned that one of our strengths is our solid back-line and Dan Turner proved once again her value for the team, as she was consistently there to clear any danger.

As Villa were on the counterattack, Hiyashi pulled Rachel Daly back, forcing her to the ground and earning herself a yellow card. A free kick was then given in a dangerous area; although Mackenzie Arnold was alert as always and the threat was removed.

We have to take a moment to praise Hannah Hampton as she showed fantastic distribution throughout the match and was able to pick out key players, such as Lehmann down the left wing. She was able to send a beautiful cross into the box on one occasion, but sadly, no one was there to receive it and it was picked up by West Ham’s Cissoko who cleared easily.

Taking a chance, Asseyi was on the ball again and fired a shot that Hampton defended well but the deflection almost cost the Villa side an own goal.

In the battle between Daly and Cissoko, it ​seemed as though the defender was winning as the Irons continued to press hard. However, Villa’s luck was about to change as a clearance was intercepted by Kirsty Hanson and delivered to the feet of the Lioness; who turned spectacularly and looped it over the keeper into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Almost an exact replica of her first goal in a Villa shirt, making it her 11th goal this season. However, as she was still annoyed by a lack of a foul given against Cissoko moments earlier, it was more of a muted celebration from the forward.

As the first half drew to a close, Villa knew they needed that second goal at least to put some distance between them and a hungry West Ham side. The second half began and both teams were ready for another 45-minute battle. There were moments at each end in front of goal, however great defending from West Ham’s Grace Fisk continued to scupper Villa’s chances.

A moment of danger loomed, however, as Hanson gave away a free kick in a promising position for the Irons. But Hampton showed her commanding presence and saved the shot easily. Feeling the threat, West Ham seemingly doubled up on marking Hanson, knowing she is Villa’s key down the wings.

The strong runs down the wing we are so used to seeing from Villa came into play once again, as Hanson was able to link up with Nobbs for a classy finish into the back of the net in the 62nd minute. Even though the Villans were now 0-2 up, they knew it wasn’t going to be easy to keep this momentum, as it felt as though a West Ham goal was on its way. Knowing this, Villa showed a decent spell of possession and Daly was twice denied another goal within the next ten minutes.

A string of substitutes on both sides saw the game change again. Brynjarsdóttir, the prolific West Ham goal scorer made the difference for them in the second half as she found herself in the middle of the action.

West Ham were conscious that time was running out and they needed to get two goals back if they wanted to take anything away from this match. Unfortunately for them, they had a series of close calls. Not only a disallowed goal in the 76th minute (to the frustration of Brynjarsdóttir) but a lovely shot from distance by Emma Snerle, which was initially saved by Hampton, was poked home by Asseyi.

But this time the offside flag was raised for the home side. The Irons were completely hungry for this goal and moments later a lovely cross from Brynjarsdóttir found Asseyi in the box, who finally managed to head the ball into the back of the net.

After the West Ham goal, Aston Villa seemed to have a little wobble of confidence but luckily Hampton was on top form and saved a brilliant shot from Grace Fisk, as the home side tried incredibly hard to get the equaliser.

Our final thought is one we have spoken about before regarding raising standards within women’s football. In a week where the Lionesses successfully created change for young girls to have equal access to football in schools, is also the same week we saw unsatisfactory streaming quality in the Arsenal and Liverpool game, but also more blunders within commentary too.

In this West Ham clash with Aston Villa, the commentator got player facts incorrect and also mixed up players too. If we are promoting higher standards at ground level, player level and manager level, we also need to hold everyone else in the process accountable too.

As without live match streaming and accurate commentary, how can women’s football be accessible to all fans?

A good three points well deserved on the road and although it could be argued a draw would have been a fair result, of course, Aston Villa will take all three.

In other Aston Villa news, Danny Mills was completely wrong about a ‘terrible’ Villa player after his recent transformation under Unai Emery.