Everton Women fell to yet another defeat following a trip to West Ham United, who lifted themselves off the bottom of the WSL at the expense of Liverpool with a win at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Rehanne
Skinner’s side weathered an early storm from their visitors, before scoring twice in quick succession with goals from Anouk Denton and Amber Tysiak, ending the first 45 in command of the fixture.
Shekiera Martinez made the game safe nine minutes into the second half, with the returning Katja Snoiejs coming off the bench pull one back with two minutes of normal time remaining.
The defeat casts further doubt over the future of Brian Sorensen, who persisted with Ruby Mace in defence, along with Martina Fernandez, Hikaru Kitagawa and Rion Ishikawa.
Clare Wheeler sat deep in midfield but looked exposed in a formation that saw Rosa van Gool and Honoka Hayashi ahead of her and looking to service a front three of Katie Robinson, Toni Payne and Ornella Vignola.
The latter had the game’s first real chance; excellent play from Wheeler gained possession for the Blues to create a flowing team move that found Robinson out wide.
And the Aston Villa loanee fed the Spaniard on the edge of the box, only to see her effort blocked by the West Ham rearguard.
Everton looked nowhere near as potent without Kelly Gago, but Vignola had another chance six minutes later. Payne flicked on a long-ball, which saw the 21-year-old and Tysiak locked in a foot race to reach it.
But just as the forward gained possession and went to pull the trigger, the defender produced a perfectly-timed challenge to thwart her.
West Ham’s opening goal had a slice of luck about it; Denton’s effort shot caught Emily Ramsey out at her near-post, with the keeper only able to push it further in to the bottom left corner.
A bright start was obliterated by a side who were able to double their goals scored tally for the season in one afternoon against a team that looked devoid of ideas once they had fallen behind.
And Sorensen must take the blame. The need to shoehorn club-record signing Mace into the starting XI has backfired spectacularly, while Wheeler was outnumbered by a well-organised unit that knew their job.
If ever there was a game where the experience of veteran Hayley Ladd was needed in the centre of the park, then this was it.
Moving onto to the forward line, and while the Toffees head coach cannot be blamed for an injury to his star striker, Payne is clearly not a natural leader of the line and much more effective out wide, something he did rectify by subbing Robinson for Snoeijs at half-time.
Indeed, the late strike from the Netherlands striker was her team’s first effort on target, a frustrating fact given that Yuka Momiki was also sat on the bench until she replaced Hayashi after West Ham had scored their third and effectively ended the game as a contest.
In the past Sorensen has cited a lack of numbers and options, something he can no longer do as Everton continue to search for their first league win since the opening day of the season.
Undefeated Chelsea are the next team to provide that opportunity when the Blues return to the capital – and WSL action – on Sunday, 7 December.
Everton Women’s next fixture will be a League Cup encounter away at Newcastle United on Sunday, 23 November at 2pm GMT (9am ET 6am PT).
Should, or even will Brian Sorensen be in charge? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
