Hammers hammer Everton 3-0

West Ham 3-0 Everton

West Ham climbed to seventh in the Barclays FA WSL table with a comfortable 3-0 home win over a struggling Everton in Dagenham.

Playing for the first time in more than a month, Everton hit the bar twice in the first half but were made to pay for their profligacy when Katerina Svitkova opened the scoring from close range.

Second-half goals from Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Claudia Walker sealed the points for the hosts, for whom midfielder Kate Longhurst was making her 150th WSL appearance.

The first chance of the afternoon went the way of the visitors in the 12th minute, Hanna Bennison’s strike from just outside the box forcing Anna Leat to push the ball onto the bar and out for a corner.

The woodwork denied the Toffees again on the half-hour, with Valerie Gauvin the unlucky party on this occasion as her header came back off the bar.

Buoyed by their let-offs, West Ham took the lead four minutes before the break as creative build up play between Lisa Evans and Svitkova led to the Czech midfielder bundling the ball home from inside the six-yard box.

West Ham had the ball in the net again within two minutes of the second half but Claudia Walker was ruled offside.

There was no denying Brynjarsdottir ten minutes later, the Icelandic midfielder slotting home after Lisa Evans made a great counter-attacking run into the box.

Walker add her name to the scoresheet with five minutes to play, dispatching Emma Snerle’s pass to complete a convincing victory.

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West Ham goalscorer Dagny Brynjarsdottir said: “Three-nil and a clean sheet – it was a great team performance, defensively and offensively.

“If someone’s not finishing their chances, someone else will step up and do it. Three different goal scorers, I think that’s great. That’s how it’s been all season.

“The goals have been coming from all over – wing-backs, centre backs, forwards, midfielders. I think that’s a great strength.

“The first half was alright but we stepped on the gas [in the second half]. We knew we had to go one gear up to finish the game. We needed more energy in the second half to finish the game.

“At the beginning of the season, we were drawing games we should have won. We needed to learn from that.

“It was a good battle and we did great in the first and second balls. We have Chelsea on Wednesday, and we need to build on what was good today and keep improving.”

Everton manager Jean-Luc Vasseur said: “It’s like a nightmare, because we managed the first half well.

“We had the control, we had seven or eight shots, two hit the crossbar. We were unlucky and at half-time, I told my team “Yes, we played well, but we are losing”.

“In the second half, we didn’t start like I wanted. I changed some players because during the break [from the league], we had a lot of Covid cases.

“Not all the players are fit, so we needed to change. I’m frustrated and disappointed. We need to wake up earlier, because it’s like a nightmare.

“I think we were not ready physically. In the second half, we didn’t have a rhythm. We have missed the rhythm of the games.

“We want to start better. We had a chance today to take a minimum of one point. But it’s not about what I want, it’s not what I think, the score is three-zero.”

West Ham United (3-5-2): Anna Leat, Grace Fisk, Lucy Parker, Gilly Flaherty, Katerina Svitkova, Abbey-Leigh Stringer, Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Zaneta Wyne, Kate Longhurst, Claudia Walker, Lisa Evans

Substitutes: Emma Snerle for Wyne 61, Mel Filis for Evans 88, Lois Joel for Longhurst 88, Halle Houssein for Stringer 90+1

Substitutes not used: Emily Moore, Brooke Cairns

Goals: Svitkova 41, Brynjarsdottir 58, Walker 85

Everton (4-4-2): Sandy MacIver, Danielle Turner, Rikke Sevecke, Gabby George, Kenza Dali, Izzy Christiansen, Valerie Gauvin, Anna Anvegard, Aurora Galli, Hanna Bennison, Poppy Pattinson

Substitutes: Nathalie Bjorn for Pattinson 63, Toni Duggan for Anvegard 63, Claire Emslie for Bennison 71, Megan Finnigan for Gauvin 79, Grace Clinton for Galli 79

Substitutes not used: Courtney Brosnan, Leonie Maier

Referee: Lauren Impey

Attendance: 1372