Manchester City’s hopes of playing Champions League football next season were dealt a blow by a late West Ham equaliser.
Khadija Shaw thought she had sealed victory with a close-range finish after coming off the bench, but West Ham substitute Manuela Pavi clinched a well-deserved point for the hosts in the first minute of added time.
The draw meant City remain fourth in the Women’s Super League table, but third-placed Arsenal have a point advantage and game in hand, the BBC reported.
Gareth Taylor made six changes to his side, but they struggled to get going as West Ham stifled their opponent’s build-up play and created the better chances in the first half.
The visitors struggled to cope with West Ham’s pressing and only a brilliant Ayaka Yamashita save denied Seraina Piubel, after Jill Roord was dispossessed in midfield, before she denied the home side’s Swiss striker twice more following City turnovers.
West Ham began the second half much as they ended the first, but the introduction of striker Shaw on the hour mark sparked City into life.
The WSL’s leading goalscorer this season forced Kinga Szemik into a smart save with her first touch, before attempting an audacious overhead kick moments later.
City debutant Laura Wienroither crashed a close-range effort against the crossbar after Shaw proved a nuisance at a set-piece, before the Jamaican striker gave City an 80th-minute lead after Mary Fowler’s deep cross was flicked on by fellow substitute Vivianne Miedema.
But ninth-placed West Ham’s spirited performance was rewarded in the final moments when Pavi gathered the ball on the left of the box and curled a strike into the bottom far corner.
City now turn their attention to a FA Women’s Cup quarter-final meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday, while West Ham are not in action until they host Tottenham on 23 March.
