Van de Donk treble helps Arsenal fight back in FA Women's Super League thriller

Danielle Van de Donk smashed a hat-trick to maintain Arsenal’s perfect start to the season in a thrilling match against West Ham.

An upset looked on the cards when Kate Longhurst twice fired West Ham ahead in the first half.
But poacher Van de Donk struck three times from close range to put Arsenal in front and skipper Kim Little sealed victory with a stunning fourth.

Claire Rafferty gave West Ham hope of snatching a second point of the season when she curled in a late free-kick but league leaders Arsenal held on to make it three wins out of three in the FA Women’s Super League.

KEY MOMENTS

A lively opening 20 minutes brought three goals and two top drawer saves from West Ham keeper Rebecca Spencer to deny Arsenal top scorer Vivianne Miedema.

West Ham’s opener came as Alisha Lehmann wasted no time in delivering a swinging cross into the heart of the penalty area where Longhurst rose to power a ninth-minute header into the roof of the net.

The lead lasted just three minutes as Lisa Quinn’s goalward header from Emma Mitchell’s corner was flicked into the net by Van de Donk.

West Ham doubled their tally when Arsenal keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin first denied Leanne Kiernan but the ball ran loose to Longhurst, who smashed in her second goal.

Arsenal managed to beat the outstanding Spencer for a second time on 41 minutes with a virtual carbon copy of their first goal.

Mitchell’s corner fell at the feet of Quinn and her goalward poke was turned in on the line by poacher Van de Donk.

Incredibly Van de Donk completed her hat-trick with yet another finish on the goal-line after Little’s corner fell at her feet.

Skipper Little secured a third straight win for Arsenal when she drilled a low 20-yard shot into the bottom corner on 73 minutes, rendering Rafferty’s late goal a consolation.

GOAL OF THE MATCH

This match wasn’t short on goals but perhaps the best was left until last as Rafferty made the final few minutes very interesting.

The West Ham player made it 4-3 with four minutes remaining when she caught out Peyraud-Magnin with an inswinging free-kick from the right edge of the penalty area.

WHAT THEY SAID

Arsenal’s Danielle Van de Donk: “It was a very hard, physical game. We were a bit sloppy in the first half and I am just happy we got away with the three points.

“I have scored a couple of hat-tricks for Arsenal but they both came in the Cup, so this was my first in the Women’s Super League.

“All the goals from close, all I had to do was just stab them in! I am very little so sometimes teams forget about me at corners and I am just there to stab them in. That is my style.

“I found it a bit weird how they defended it and the same thing kept happening but I can’t complain really!

“We knew West Ham would be dangerous on the counter-attack and we did not deal with that the best today and we lost the ball sloppily to give them those chances.”

West Ham head coach Matt Beard: “We were excellent in the first half and we are disappointed because we have conceded three goals from three set plays, especially after how well we defended them against Reading during the week.

“Losing Brooke Hendrix hurt us in that respect but we can take a lot of credit from our performance.
“The first goal was excellent, the second was what we planned for as we knew they like to overplay at the back.

WHAT’S NEXT?

West Ham play host to Yeovil Town next Sunday in the Super League, whilst Arsenal face Chelsea in three weeks’ time.

Arsenal head coach Joe Montemurro: “We have the international break and a free week before we play Chelsea.

“It is difficult because you lose a bit of rhythm but we have to manage it the same as all other clubs.

“It is what it is. We are happy to go into the game with nine points. We face a difficult October with Chelsea then Reading, Birmingham and Bristol.

“We are playing against Chelsea and the other teams that are up there. I believe in the girls and I believe in what we are doing.

“It is too early to say the Chelsea game will be a title-defining match. There are so many games to play.

“Chelsea are starting to get into their rhythm and we are on a high at the moment and we just want to keep our momentum going forward.”

West Ham head coach Matt Beard added: “I have seen Yeovil twice already against Arsenal and Reading.

“We have a few things we need to tidy up on our own play but we will focus on Yeovil in our training sessions at the end of the week.

“We defended really well from corners before an off day against Arsenal. We lost two of our best headers of the ball and went zonal against Arsenal but we will move forward from that.

“Yeovil will be a completely different game to Arsenal. They play a different system. But the space between the lines is something we will look to exploit with the likes of Julia Simic and Brianna Visalli.

“They are also vulnerable in the wide areas but it is going to be a tough game as they are a side who are improving with every game.”

To follow all of the action during the season and to buy tickets; visit www.ticketstores.co.uk/fawsl/

Arsenal 4
Van de Donk 12, 41, 63, Little 73
West Ham 3
Longhurst 9, 17, Rafferty 86

ARSENAL (4-1-2-3): Pauline Peyraud-Magnin; Dominique Bloodworth, Leah Williamson, Louise Quinn, Emma Mitchell; Lia Walti; Jordan Nobbs, Kim Little; Danielle Van de Donk, Vivianne Miedema, Katie McCabe
Subs: Lisa Evans for Quinn 70, Beth Mead for McCabe 70
Subs not used: Sari van Veenendaal, Jessica Samuelsson, Ava Kuykan
Bookings: Mitchell

WEST HAM (4-3-3): Rebecca Spencer, Ria Percival, Gilly Flaherty, Erin Simon, Claire Rafferty; Julia Simic, Brianna Visalli, Kate Longhurst; Alisha Lehmann, Jane Ross, Leanne Kiernan
Subs: Esmee de Graaf for Kiernan 73
Subs not used: Anna Moorhouse, Vyan Sampson, Rosie Kmita, Lucienne Reichardt

Referee: Paul Howard