Arsenal maintain winning run with confident 3-1 win over West Ham

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Arsenal conceded their first goal of the season, but maintained their perfect winning run as they came from a goal behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at Meadow Park in the Women's Super League on Sunday.

Dagny Brynjarsdottir opened the scoring, pouncing on poor defending as an out-of-sorts Arsenal side had their run of four consecutive clean sheets in the league halted.

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Arsenal recuperated though, and their firepower shone through to earn a comfortable victory, their fifth in as many matches this season.

"I always think it is a challenge when you play a lot of games," Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said afterward, referencing  their packed schedule that includes the Women's Champions League.

"I think we make mistakes we're not usually doing on the ball, with our position we look slow, we lose focus. The goal that we concede, I think is a prime example of that. I don't recognise us as a team here [for the goal]. We always want to be better than that but there is a reason why we were like that."

Arsenal struggled to find their flow early on as West Ham, notably from corners, provided Eidevall's side a stern test.

It looked as though West Ham opened the scoring on 26 minutes, but Brynjarsdottir was adjudged to have committed a foul while heading in Kirsty Smith's corner.

Brynjarsdottir was not denied for long, though. The Iceland international capitalised on calamitous Arsenal defending to open the scoring, Eidevall's side conceding their first goal of the 2022-23 season.

"Another point is scoring against Arsenal because they haven't conceded for a long time and to come here for 70 minutes and give them a good run is a massive positive as well," West Ham manager Paul Konchesky said.

"For [Brynjarsdottir] it has been fantastic. We play a little bit different this year and she's a bit higher up so to get Dagny in the box is paying off now."

Steph Catley looked to have the ball under control after Konchesky's side threatened a break, but the Arsenal defender's poor back pass fooled Manuela Zinsberger, as the ball dribbled past her and hit the left-post, allowing Brynjarsdottir to bundle into an empty net.

But Arsenal were back level three minutes before the break, Jordan Nobbs the scorer with her second touch of the match, just two minutes after being substituted on in place of the injured Kim Little.

The hosts' corner was scrambled away by a crowd of West Ham bodies, but Nobbs powered into the box to fire a fierce strike past Sophie Hillyerd.

Arsenal were quicker out the blocks in the second half. Stina Blackstenius forced Hillyerd into a fingertip save seven minutes after the break. And just two minutes later, the hosts completed their comeback - Blackstenius scoring her third league goal of the season.

Catley's right-wing cross was inch-perfect, finding the Sweden international who wriggled free of her marker, she fired home a volley from close-range to give Arsenal the lead.

Frida Maanum ensured Arsenal's perfect league run continued as she scored to give Arsenal a two-goal cushion on 70 minutes.

The attack was built on the foundations of fantastic hold-up play by Blackstenius. The ball eventually found Katie McCabe in space outside the box, her whipped cross was powerfully met by the head of Maanum to wrap up victory after a dominant second half by the hosts.

Arsenal did not settle for three goals and Maanum could've had her second moments before full-time, but her strike smashed the crossbar.

Arsenal sit second in the WSL table behind Manchester United only to the concession of one goal. West Ham, now seventh, have won three and lost three of their opening six matches. There has yet to be a WSL match end in a draw this season.

Earlier, Ashleigh Neville, Drew Spence and substitute Jessica Naz all netted twice as a rampant Tottenham side hammered Brighton 8-0.

Rachel Rowe scored twice in second-half stoppage time as Reading staged an impressive comeback from a goal down to beat bottom side Leicester 2-1, condemning their visitors to their sixth defeat in six league games.

Manchester City bagged a 2-1 home win over Liverpool that keeps them in fourth place on nine points, six behind the leaders and ahead of Spurs, Everton and West Ham on goal difference.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.