West Ham Women 's goalscoring woes continued as they were consigned to a 2-1 loss to second-from-bottom Reading in the Women’s Super League on Sunday afternoon, extending Paul Konchesky’s side winless streak in the league to four matches since the turn of the year.
The Hammers travelled to the Select Car Leasing Stadium languishing after a startling league goal drought, having failed to register a single goal against WSL opposition since mid-December and without a goal since the turn of the year.
It's a far cry from the high-flying form Konchesky's side was relishing before the winter break, but it was more of the same on Sunday as early chances to fire the Hammers into the lead were spurned throughout the first half through Amalie Thestrup and Honoka Hayashi.
READ MORE: West Ham look to end dreadful league goal drought with WSL win over Reading
The Royals invariably made West Ham rue their profligacy shortly after the hour mark as Charlie Welling found a way past Mackenzie Arnold in goal.
Despite Viviane Asseyi clawing back a leveller from Izzy Atkinson’s assist 10 minutes later, Reading's Rachel Rowe produced a sensational shot from just inside the area five minutes from time to finalise another disappointing attacking performance from Konchesky’s ranks.
And in his post-match assessment, the Hammers boss criticised his team’s wastefulness on the back of another poor defensive performance.
“We could have had four or five goals today if we’d have taken the chances that we had – particularly in the first 45 minutes – but listen, the game of football is 90 minutes and we weren’t clinical in their box and we didn’t defend our own well enough,” he told the team's website.
“I think we had about 15 chances today, so to only be scoring one isn’t good enough.”
Konchesky acknowledged the potential knock-on effect of now joint-top goalscorer Asseyi notching her first goal in nearly four months, but lamented the consistently missed opportunities from others to capitalise similarly.
“I just think today it wasn’t falling for a number of our players in front of goal – Izzy had a brilliant opportunity to score at the back post towards the end,” he said.
“I’m pleased for Vivi to be back amongst the goals, hopefully, that will give her some confidence going into next weekend’s game against Aston Villa.”
West Ham’s attacking flair was significantly diminished in the conspicuous absence of midfielder Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, who has scored five goals in the league, level with Asseyi.
Konchesky owed the 31-year-old's absence from the squad to illness. "She had a little bit of trouble last night and didn’t feel well enough to play today, so we’ll have to speak to the medical team and see how she goes," he added.
West Ham's loss sees them drop further adrift from Aston Villa and Everton, who are also fighting for the fifth-place finish. The Hammers host the Villans next weekend and Konchesky was under no illusion as to what will be demanded of his team if a first win since December is to be secured.
"It’s going to be a really tough game, we’ve played them twice, so we know what we’re going to be up against. We have to regroup and stick together, being at home, hopefully, we will get the support that we deserve, and our fans get behind the players," said Konchesky.
"We’ll work hard in training and look to get a positive result next weekend against Villa."
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