Renee Slegers hails Arsenal character after comeback win against West Ham | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Renee Slegers has praised her team's character after they came from behind to beat West Ham 4-3 in the Women's Super League (WSL) on Sunday.

It was a nightmare start for the hosts at Borehamwood as they conceded twice in the space of ten minutes. Amber Tysiak opened the scoring for the visitors before she added a second shortly after.

The Gunners appeared to be struggling, but on the brink of half-time, January signing Chloe Kelly pulled one back to halve the deficit. After the break, Shekiera Martinez added a third for West Ham to make Arsenal’s task even more difficult.

It was at that point Arsenal started to move through the gears. Two goals in the space of two minutes from Katie McCabe and Leah Williamson put them back on level terms, before Mariona Caldentey calmly scored from the penalty spot late on to clinch the victory.

Chloe Kelly scored her first goal since rejoining Arsenal / Crystal Pix/MB Media/GettyImages

"It was a rollercoaster, this game," Slegers admitted to arsenal.com after the game. "I think we put ourselves in a situation, we paint a scenario where we go 2-0 down.

"I'm not sure if that's happened before since I've been coaching the team and I'm just very proud of the team, how they show character and strength of coming back from such a scenario. It was a really hard game today.

"But I think we've been talking about it before, when you create momentum, positive momentum, make sure you capitalise and I think, coming back to your question, that's what we did in that block in the second half."

After conceding three and then forcing their way in front, Arsenal players put their bodies on the line in stoppage time to prevent West Ham from finding a last-gasp equaliser. Slegers hailed the effort and emphasised how much they wanted and needed the result.

"I'm not sure who it is, is it Beth taking the ball off the line, I don't know, several players are involved," the manager added.  "I have to see it back, but that just shows how much the team wanted it today and the desire and the motivation that's in the team to represent Arsenal and get the wins over the line, so I'm very proud.

"It wasn't always pretty, the surface was hard to play on, but we got the win."

The result keeps Arsenal third in the WSL standings, two points behind Manchester United in second and eight behind leaders Chelsea following their away draw at Brighton & Hove Albion. Now, attention turns to the FA Cup, with a quarter-final clash against Liverpool to come next weekend.