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London City Lionesses 1, West Ham United 0.
- samwraight
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
Asllani brilliance moves London City into the WSL top 6
Sunday 12th October | CopperJax Community Stadium
London City Lionesses have made it two clean sheets and six points from their previous two home games, recording a hard-fought 1-0 win at the CopperJax Community Stadium.
Kosovare Asllani led by example, capitalising on a mistake by the West Ham goalkeeper - sneaking the ball from her feet and tucking it home for one of the easiest finishes of her glittering career.
London City enjoyed plenty of possession in the early stages, creating several half-chances in the opening 20 minutes. Asllani and Freya Godfrey provided the main threat, both confident to take on opponents and shoot on sight, though neither could find the target.
Vivianne Asseyi almost produced a worldie in the 21st minute, rocketing a fierce strike towards the top corner, only to see it crash off the post. Saki Kumagai then had a golden opportunity to put the home side ahead five minutes before half-time, stretching to meet a cross but volleying over the bar.
West Ham came out in the second half gunning for the opener and were left to rue a series of missed chances. In the space of ten minutes, Seraina Piubel saw a powerful effort blocked bravely by Jana Fernández, Kumagai made a goalline clearance, and Elene Lete pulled off a fantastic one-on-one stop to deny Shekeira Martinez.
Just as the visitors began to build momentum, London City struck. Out of nowhere, Asllani pounced on an unsuspecting goalkeeper, stealing the ball and calmly passing it into an empty net - a moment of magic that turned the game on its head in the 68th minute.
Isobel Goodwin almost doubled the hosts’ advantage moments later, but Kinga Szemik reacted sharply to deny her.
London City held firm in the closing stages to secure a crucial three points, lifting them up to sixth in the Barclays WSL.
Jocelyn Prêcheur was proud of his teams resilience: “Of course, with the result, I’m completely satisfied.
“It almost never happens, when a promoted team gets nine points from six games, so it’s good for us.
“It proved one more time that we are in the WSL for good reason.
“However, there are things we need to improve. I was more satisfied with the first half.
“We need to rest a little, but we need to get to work as fast as possible after this, because there are many things we can improve.
Focus now shifts to the Subway Women’s League Cup next, as London City now face Leicester City next weekend.
After the international break, we will return to WSL to take on table toppers Chelsea, away at Stamford Bridge.
You won’t want to miss it.
Teamsheet: Lete, Fernández, Kumagai (Kennedy 66'), Asllani (Zelem 80'), Linari, Godfrey (Corrales 56'), Parris, Goodwin, Imuran (Franssi 66'), Sangaré, Geyoro (Roddar 80').
