Aoba Fujino’s first-half strike enough to earn Manchester City victory

Manchester City extended their winning run to six matches with a 1-0 victory over West Ham to keep the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the Women’s Super League.

Aoba Fujino opened the scoring for City in the first half before Gracie Prior struck the crossbar in the second period.

Following Chelsea’s 2-0 win against the London City Lionesses, Andree Jeglertz’s side remain a point off the top, while West Ham stay rooted to the foot of the table as their losing streak continued.

The Hammers have lost all seven of their matches so far, and have now failed to score in four straight games.

City dominated throughout at the Joie Stadium and took a deserved lead with 26 minutes gone. Shelina Zadorsky lost the ball to Vivianne Miedema who drove towards the visitors’ area before playing in Fujino who struck first time to open the scoring.

Rehanne Skinner’s struggling side were on the back foot but came close to drawing level just 10 minutes later when Viviane Asseyi’s shot clipped the top of the bar.

In the 70th minute, the woodwork denied Prior from doubling City’s advantage. Prior rose highest to meet Yui Hasegawa’s free-kick, but her header crashed back off the bar before Miedema inadvertently blocked Fujino’s follow-up which looked destined for the back of the net.

City pressed for a second and Laura Blindkilde Brown shanked another good opportunity for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining before Khadija Shaw snatched at a corner and missed the target in the closing stages.

But despite their failure to add a second, City saw out the win to secure all three points.