Liverpool Women‘s new signing, Olivia Smith, scored her first goal for the club as Matt Beard’s side drew 1-1 away against West Ham Women.
West Ham Women 1-1 Liverpool Women
WSL (2), Victoria Road (Dagenham & Redbridge)
September 29, 2024
Goals: Smith 7′; Ueki 85′
Beard made one change to the team’s starting XI as he brought in Jasmine Matthews to replace Gemma Evans from Liverpool’s opening-day 1-1 draw against Leicester.
Smith, playing her second game since signing for £210,000 from Sporting in the summer, showed her quality early on.
With just seven minutes gone, the 20-year-old found space in the box by turning sharply onto her left foot and curling into the far corner, with the West Ham goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Despite having the majority of possession and shooting opportunities, Liverpool didn’t threaten the opposition goal too closely again for the rest of the half.
Seeking to freshen things up, Beard made four substitutions in quick succession with 15 minutes to play, bringing on Yana Daniels and Niamh Fahey in defence, Sofie Lundgaard in midfield and swapping the front two for Mia Enderby and Leanne Kiernan.
The changes didn’t have the impact he desired, though, and Liverpool went on to concede a second-half goal to draw 1-1 for the second game in a row.
West Ham‘s equaliser came in the 85th minute when Rachael Laws came off her line to punch clear but was beaten to the ball by the head of, Riko Ueki whose looping effort landed in the net.
Kiernan nearly won it at the death for the visitors but her shot, after a great solo run, was from a tight angle and too close to the Hammers’ goalkeeper.
After the game, Liverpool’s manager spoke about his substitutions, saying: “Ceri (Holland) got a knock earlier in the game.
“The front two were working hard. I think the game for us was down the sides and Mia (Enderby( and Leanne (Kiernan) are really, really good at that.
“The other changes, Paz (Lucy Parry) has sort of not been in full training for a long time. We’ve got three games this week so there’s a lot we need to take into consideration.
“I just felt with Niamh (Fahey’s) experience to see the game out.”
The Reds’ next match presents a chance to regain some positivity, should they beat Man United in the group stage of the League Cup.
Liverpool Women: Laws; Parry (Daniels 76′), Bonner, Clark (Fahey 79′), Matthews, Hinds; Nagano, Holland (Lundgaard 76)’, Hobinger; Smith (Enderby 75′), Roman Haug (Kiernan 76′)
Subs not used: Spencer, Evans, Kapocs, Silcock
Next match: Man United (A) – League Cup – Wednesday, October 2, 7pm (BST)
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