West Ham could have been 2-0 up at one point during the first half of the contest at Meadow Park against an unbeaten Arsenal side.
However, a questionable refereeing decision from a corner which disallowed Dagný Brynjarsdóttir's header and went in favour of Kim Little meant that the Gunners, rather fortuitously, only had a one-goal deficit to make up, which they did with some ease as the contest progressed.
Goals from Jordan Nobbs, Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum were enough to sink the Hammers in the end and continue the north Londoners' 13-game winning streak in domestic competitions.
Regardless of the result, having threatened to end Arsenal's win streak at one point was enough for not only manager Paul Konchesky to take positives from defeat but also defender Abbey Leigh-Stringer, who echoed a similar sentiment to her manager.
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"I thought all of the girls were great tonight," the 27-year-old told in-house club media post-match. "We were unlucky with some of the goals that we conceded, but we know that Arsenal are a good team. We had a game plan today, but I think, in the end, Arsenal showed why they're a quality side.
"I think we're getting better and better against the top sides in the division, and obviously, we've still got to keep improving – we all know that coming away from tonight. But I think we can all take credit from what we did well tonight."
West Ham, sitting in seventh with a handsome nine points from six games, have had a tendency in the early parts of 2021/22 to start games lightning-quick but not keep up that intensity throughout the 90 minutes.
This hasn't just been shown in this specific contest but also the Reading 3-2 victory, a game in which the much refreshed Irons went 3-0 up within the first 30 minutes but faded as the contest progressed to the point where Kelly Chambers side nearly nicked a point from the Chigwell Construction Stadium. Against a side like Arsenal, however, running out of steam is not something unusual in this division.
Stringer added: "I think it's good that we're able to start matches strongly at the moment because it means that teams are scared of us from the beginning, and it allows us to catch them a little bit cold or off guard.
"We know that when we come up against the likes of Arsenal that, we've got the respect the quality of their players, but I thought we battled really well, and we were unlucky at times."
Next up for Konchesky's side before the international break is manager-less Brighton and Hove Albion, who have lost their manager of five years in the form of Hope Powell, who decided to step down from her role after the most recent 8-0 embarrassment at home to Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend.
"Brighton will be a completely different opposition; it'll be a different game. They obviously have some quality, but we know that we're capable of coming away from that game with a win, and we can take confidence from our performance tonight into that game," Stringer concluded.
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