West Ham United boss Skinner frustrated with disallowed goal in defeat at Manchester City | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner expressed her frustration after seeing her side denied a goal in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at The Joie Stadium this afternoon.

Lauren Hemp and Mary Fowler got the goals for the hosts but it could have been a different story had Viviane Asseyi’s second-minute effort not been ruled out for offside.

When speaking to the media after the match, Skinner admitted that her side conceded two soft goals but highlighted the fact that West Ham United should have been ahead in the game.

“It’s a really difficult place to come to and they’re a top team, Champions League, they have lots of options to change, especially in an attacking sense,” Skinner said.

“I’m disappointed with the goal that was disallowed that wasn’t offside that would have put us 1-0 up. Whether that changes the outcome of the game, I don’t know but it definitely has an impact on confidence, the dynamic of how things are operating, so that’s disappointing.

“For large parts, defensively, we were organised and we made it difficult for them to break us down. For the two goals that we conceded, we just know we can avoid those types of goals, it’s disappointing to concede in that way. The timing of the second goal was a killer because I thought we were in a positive position, we had created a few chances as well.

“Overall, it’s a tough place to come and we gave a good account of ourselves but I’m just disappointed in the nature that we’ve conceded the goals.”

Going on to discuss the disallowed goal further, Skinner said that she has watched it back and Asseyi was clearly onside when gaining possession of the ball.

She said “I’ve watched it back and it’s something to follow up on after the game. She’s two yards onside, she was clearly onside at the time of the pass. What makes it look like she’s offside is that [Alex] Greenwood’s position is the wrong way around which is what catches her out.

“It’s an opportunity where I think we would have been in a different position, at least at half-time.”

Looking back on her side’s overall performance, Skinner admitted that it was a case of fine margins and that West Ham United almost needed the perfect game to get anything from the contest.

She said “When you play Manchester City, you’ve always got to be really good at managing the inside pockets in the defensive third. On the one occasion where we’ve allowed them to come into that kind of space, they’ve created the opportunity where the ball’s gone into the box.

“You’ve got to be really diligent at being consistent with the set up and the structure. In these games, one moment of switch-off, they’ve got the players that can punish you.

“For massive parts of the game, we did a really good job but that’s the fine margins that we have to be able to deal with. It’s solvable, we’ve been working on that in different games and we’ve done really well but it just caught us out on that situation today.”

West Ham United are back in action next Sunday when they travel to Walton Hall Park to face Everton.