Everton Women 1-1 West Ham: WSL Match Report and Reaction

10/14/2024 01:10 PM

Lawley ready to push on as dominant Blues have to settle for point.

Melissa Lawley has urged her Everton Women teammates to push on after her equaliser secured a point for the Toffees against West Ham United at Walton Hall Park.

The former Liverpool midfielder came off the bench to restore parity after Anouk Denton had put the visitors ahead inside the opening ten minutes.

The Blues had enough chances to turn one point into three, but Rehanne Skinner's side held firm and left Merseyside with a share of the spoils in a game controlled by the hosts.

And Lawley - who was full of praise for the Everton fans inside the ground - believes it is a case of pushing on and is hoping that now Brian Sorensen's team has scored their first goal in this WSL season, it will be the start of many.

"It was frustrating not to get the three points but I'm excited to be back on the pitch and ready to push on now," she said.

"The fans were absolutely amazing and I'm excited to be here and hopefully get three points in the next game.

"I think if you look at the other games, we have struggled to get the ball in the net so hopefully this goal today will give us that confidence we need to score goals.

"Our performances have been good, we just need to turn chances into goals.

"I think we have to review this game and take the positives, because there was a lot of positives, it just seems to be that final third.

"We need to just push on as I really believe we have a good team, with great togetherness.

Everton made just one change from last week's hard-fought draw with Arsenal - Emma Bissell replacing Veatriki Sarri, who dropped to the bench - and had the game's first real chance on six minutes. Katja Snoeijs rounded Kinga Szemik and was forced into a tight angle.

The Dutch star tried to find Karoline Olesen in the box, but the Hammers were able to clear after a goalmouth scramble.

But it would be the visitors who would draw first blood minutes later through Denton. Strong play from Viviane Asseyi to hold off her marker allowed the former Arsenal star to unleash a powerful strike that rather cannoned off Clare Wheeler into the net.

Everton didn't panic and stuck to their game plan, which yielded a great chance on 34 minutes. Heather Payne weaved her way into a shooting position and stung the palms of Szemik with a venomous drive.

Snoeijs appears to be doing everything but score and this fixture proved no different. The 28-year-old was next to test Szemik, who did well to get down and tip the striker's effort around the post.

Everton began the second half with as much purpose as the first but it didn't take Sorensen long to ring the changes, introducing Sarri and Toni Payne for Bissell and Heather Payne, respectively.

The Greece international international went close on 63 minutes when she collected Snoeijs' pass, but couldn't keep her shot from the outside of the box on target.

Riko Ueki sent a warning to the Blues with a long-range effort of her own minutes later, but also missed the target.

Sorensen rolled the dice again; Lawley enjoying a loud welcome as she replaced Olesen to make her competitive debut for the Toffees.

And it took the 30-year-old just over five minutes to make her mark. Lucy Hope found the debutant, who raced at the Hammers backline and lofted a ball took a deflection off Camila Sáez and beyond Szemik.

The goal may well go down as an OG, but Lawley will most certainly be making a strong case to claim her team's first league strike of the season as her own.

Sarri threatened three minutes later, but her shot was dealt with by Szemik, who was certainly earning her money during the contest

Ueki was always dangerous, and forced Courtney Brosan into a save when Asseyi's dangerous ball found the head of Japanese international.

As the game drew to a close Sarri thought she'd grabbed the winner with minutes remaining.

Good work from Honoka Hayashi fashioned an opening for the winger, who's arrowed drive was well saved by the Polish stopper.

Both sides continued to push but normal time and four additional minutes couldn't separate the teams, as honours ended even at Walton Hall Park.

Up next for Everton Women is a trip to the East Midlands to face Leicester City.

Kick-off at the King Power Stadium is on Sunday, 20 October at 3pm (BST).