West Ham held on despite a late scare to pile further misery onto relegation-threatened Reading FC in the WSL.
Vivianne Asseyi's double and Dagny Brynjarsdottir's header put the Hammers into a commanding position after 30 minutes, but the visitors rallied late on to try and steal an unlikely point away from home at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Although this game wasn't the most exciting of the weekend, it still had major importance to both sides. West Ham were looking to stabilise after a mixed start to the season, which came to a head last weekend when defender Hawa Cissoko and Paul Konchesky were both sent off in the 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
The Royals - currently 11th in the table - made Kelly Chambers 'proud' with the 'fight' they showed in their last WSL game, which ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of title hopefuls Arsenal.
Despite how early on it is in the season, the Berkshire side needed to find a way to turn performances into points, especially with a crunch fixture against relegation rivals Leicester City on the horizon in what is already a six-pointer.
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Reading had never lost at West Ham, collecting eight points from four games away to the Hammers, and it remained to be seen how they would cope without Konchesky in the dugout.
It took just four minutes for the Irons to break the deadlock. Mel Felis, who came in for Cissoko and played as a midfielder with Kate Longhurst dropping into defence, floated a cross in from the right, which was met by the powerful leap and header of captain Brynjarsdottir.
The Icelandic international netted her third goal of the 2022/23 WSL campaign. Former Bayern Munich star Asseyi was looking to break her WSL deadlock, and she did that with ease in the first half.
One scrappy goal and one more polished finish from the French international meant that after only 30 minutes, Konchesky's side were running riot over a deflated-looking Reading outfit, who were more focussed on damage limitation following the 28-year-old's second of the afternoon.
Asseyi came close to a hat-trick in the 36th minute, which was saved by a combination of the woodwork and Reading goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns' quick reflexes.
3-0 at half-time could have been so much more, barring a mix of the woodwork and good saves by Northern Ireland shot-stopper Burns, who herself was making her second WSL appearance. Chambers reacted at half-time by introducing wing-back Faye Bryson for the struggling Lily Woodham to ensure some stability in the wide areas.
Things improved mildly for WSL strugglers, but the flow of chances didn't stop for West Ham. Player of the match contender Thea Kyvag tried to increase their lead before the hour mark with a cracking shot. The Norwegian looks like a star of the future with such an accomplished performance put in at the young age of 18 years old.
In all fairness to Reading, they kept going and got their rewards for the effort, as Charlie Wellings had too much space in the world to pick her spot from the right-hand side of the box following Rachel Rowe's through ball. That finish in the 75th minute was the second for the former Celtic player. One thing Chambers' side always have is a heart, and a never give up attitude. Sanne Troelsgaard brought them back to within one goal with a well-taken penalty in the 82nd minute, but despite this late flurry, they ran out of time.
Next weekend's six-pointer against bottom side Leicester City is pivotal if Reading are to survive another season in the top flight. For West Ham, 5th place is certainly no bad feat for a side that saw many new faces added to the squad at the start of the campaign.
West Ham player ratings- Mackenzie Arnold- 6; Risa Shimizu- 7, Melisa Filis- 8; Grace Fisk-7, Kirsty Smith- 7; Dagny Brynjarsdottir-8, Kate Longhurst- 7, Honoka Hayashi- 7, Lisa Evans- 7, Thea Kyvag- 8, Viviane Asseyi- 9
Substitutes
Abbey-Leigh Stringer- 6, Claudia Walker- 6, Halle Houssein- 6, Sophie Hillyerd- 6, Isibeal Atkinson- 6
Teams
West Ham (4-3-3)
Mackenzie Arnold; Risa Shimizu, Melisa Filis- Grace Fisk, Kirsty Smith; Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Kate Longhurst, Honoka Hayashi, Lisa Evans, Thea Kyvag, Viviane Asseyi.
Substitutes
Abbey-Leigh Stringer, Claudia Walker, Halle Houssein, Sophie Hillyerd, Isibeal Atkinson
Reading (3-4-2-1)
Jacqueline Burns; Emma Mukandi, Gemma Evans, Deanna Cooper; Lily Woodham, Justine Vanhaevermaet, Tia Primmer, Amalie Eikeland; Natasha Dowie, Rachel Rowe,
Substitutes
Faye Bryson, Sanne Troelsgaard, Lauren Wade, Diane Caldwell
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