West Ham through to FA Cup quarter-finals after win against Reading
By Tom Chambers
Dagny Brynjarsdottir scores in extra time against Reading to send West Ham through to the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals.
As if West Ham’s two week wait for an opportunity to respond to their loss against Leicester City wasn’t enough, they had to play 107 minutes of this cup tie before they were rewarded for their patience.
The fact that these two teams are separated by just two points in the WSL meant that this game was always likely to be decided by a narrow score line. In the end, it was a set-piece that proved to be Reading’s undoing as second half substitute, Dagny Brynjarsdottir, fired the ball into the roof of the net from close range following a corner. The Icelandic midfielder clearly returned from the international break full of confidence after she took just 48 seconds to score against New Zealand – the fastest goal in the history of the SheBelieves Cup.
The Hammers will find out the identity of their quarter-final opponents when the draw takes place on Tuesday morning. They will be keen to avoid Chelsea and Arsenal who both registered comprehensive victories over the weekend against Leicester City and Liverpool, respectively.
West Ham Manager, Olli Harder, praised his player’s application when he spoke to whufc.com after the final whistle.
"“I think it was a real team effort, every single player out on the pitch played their part and I’m just really happy that we were able to progress.”"
As the low winter sun glared on to the pitch at the Madejski Stadium, it was the home team that started the match the brighter of the two teams. Reading’s early dominance translated into a number of first half opportunities, but it was Gemma Evans who came closest when her header cannoned back off the post.
The match seemed to move in West Ham’s favour after the introduction of Emma Walker and Adriana Leon on the hour mark. The Hammers began to threaten the Reading goal and almost broke the deadlock when the ball fell to Katerina Svitkova in The Royals’ penalty area, but her shot hit the side netting. Shortly afterwards, Yui Hasegawa forced a good save from Rhiannon Stewart when she fired her effort towards the bottom corner from around 25 yards out. However despite West Ham’s second half dominance, they couldn’t find a winning goal in the 90 minutes.
The Hammers continued to dominate as the match headed into extra-time and eventually made their pressure count when, West Ham fan, Dagny Brynsjarsdottir was quickest to react to a blocked Hasegawa shot. The Icelandic international rifled the ball into the net via the underside of the crossbar to send West Ham into the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup.
The Hammers have a ten day wait for their next match when they will host title challengers Chelsea in the WSL. The Blues don’t have the same time to prepare for the match as they face Manchester City in the final of the League Cup on Saturday. Olli Harder’s West Ham team will need to get a result against Chelsea if they are to retain any realistic hope of qualifying for European football next season.