West Ham Women were beaten 5-0 away at WSL leaders Manchester City on Sunday afternoon. Rehanne Skinner’s side got off to a slow start and despite a couple of chances were unable to come back from this or get a foothold in the game.

The Hammers were two goals down after just four minutes following a lightning quick start from City. Goals from Leila Ouahabi and Bunny Shaw gave City an early lead and presented West Ham with a mountain to climb in order to try and get back into the game.

Bunny Shaw scored her second of the game, and her side’s third, around twenty minutes later which saw City sail to a 3-0 lead within the opening half an hour. Despite the scoreline, the Hammers had a number of opportunities. Forward Viv Asseyi had a chance which was saved by City keeper Khiara Keating, whilst both her and Riko Ueki had efforts which struck the woodwork.

Late into the second half, Laura Blindkilde Brown would score City’s fourth and a few minutes later Jess Park would add a fifth to secure all three points for City, inflicting a heavy defeat on the Hammers.

Speaking to the club’s website after the game, manager Rehanne Skinner was clearly disappointed with her side’s performance. Skinner said: “We can’t concede early goals like that because it creates a real mountain to climb, and so we’re really disappointed with that. It wasn’t to be today, and we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to give a good account of ourselves for the 90 minutes.”

Skinner went on to add: “When they scored two of their goals, it was within five minutes of each other as well, and those are bits that we have to get better at as well, because it’s just that switch off moment. It’s disappointing for everybody, because for large parts over the course of the season, I think we’ve managed that better, and ultimately, today, we’ve dipped back into that.”