Manchester City 2-0 West Ham: Hemp hits 50th goal in routine win

Manchester City comfortably saw off West Ham 2-0 to move top of the Women’s Super League, with Lauren Hemp making history in the process.

With Chelsea’s fixture against Manchester United having been postponed, City took the chance to, at least temporarily, move into top spot.

Gareth Taylor’s team were well in control throughout Sunday’s contest at Joie Stadium, where England international Hemp put City ahead in the 10th minute.

Hemp raced onto Mary Fowler’s pass before calmly creating space to plant a neat finish low into the left-hand corner, bringing up her 50th WSL goal.

She should have doubled her tally early in the second half, only to slice over a gaping goal from point-blank range.

Fowler made no such mistake as she headed home in the 71st minute, with the Australian latching onto a brilliant cross from Khadija Shaw, who had capitalised on a slack backpass having just come on as a substitute.

Camila Saez sent a tame free-kick into the hands of Ayaka Yamashita late on, with West Ham unable to truly test the hosts, who also had Jill Roord back in action after her long-awaited return from a knee injury.

50 – With her opener against West Ham today, Lauren Hemp has become the youngest player in @BarclaysWSL history to score 50 goals (24y 60d). Milestone. pic.twitter.com/owOeVAPRwP

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 6, 2024

Data Debrief: Half-century up for Hemp

While Hemp will be frustrated with her second-half miss, she has a slice of WSL history to her name. At the age of 24 years and 60 days, she became the youngest player to hit the 50-goal mark in the competition.

Kinga Szemik, the West Ham goalkeeper, also made two fine saves to deny Hemp later on.

Hemp finished with 1.18 expected goals (xG) from a game-leading six shots, as City finished with 2.43 xG to West Ham’s 0.49.