West Ham United 0-0 Arsenal: Gunners falter in WSL title race

Wasteful Arsenal suffered a blow in the Women's Super League title race as they were held to a draw at West Ham.

The Gunners, who attempted to sign Alessia Russo for a world-record fee on transfer deadline day, missed several good chances and were shut out by the Hammers.

They also found West Ham keeper Mackenzie Arnold in fine form - the Australian making several good saves.

This draw leaves Arsenal five points off WSL leaders Chelsea.

Arsenal have dropped points in back-to-back league games, after being held at home by Chelsea following a last-minute Sam Kerr equaliser.

Jonas Eidevall's side have a game in hand, but are clearly missing star forwards Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema who are both out for the season with knee injuries.

Eidevall told Sky Sports: "It was one of those days. We grew into more control in the second half.

"We definitely deserved to win today from an opportunities standpoint - but if you don't score, you won't win."

West Ham stay seventh, having drawn for the first time in 18 WSL fixtures.

In what has been shaping up as a fascinating title race, this Sunday could not have gone better for Emma Hayes' Chelsea.

Having seen Manchester United drop points at home to Everton, they won at Tottenham before watching Arsenal huff and puff but fail to blow West Ham down.

This was the first time Arsenal had failed to score in a WSL game since a goalless draw with Hayes' Blues in February last year, in a title race where they were eventually edged out on the final day.

Arsenal drew headlines with their attempts to sign Russo for a world record £500,000 fee on deadline day.

Their reasons for doing so became more obvious in this game, with Caitlin Foord summing up their struggles by misjudging a chip when clean through late on, sending it into the stands.

It is too early to make projections this season, but in a league as competitive as the WSL, dropping two points here could cost Eidevall's side.

The Swedish coach looked to be positive afterwards, saying: "I can't fault the performance. We had great energy, great momentum - and if we can keep that, I have good feelings about this team.

"I don't think it was their [West Ham's] choice to have 10 players behind the ball. I think we were controlling them very well and forcing them back.

"I think we were lacking the final quality today but I would have been far more worried if we didn't create those opportunities."

West Ham had lost all eight of their previous WSL meetings with Arsenal, while the Gunners had won all three away top-flight matches against the Hammers, scoring 15 goals in the process.

With Eidevall's charges having won their past eight WSL away matches, more punishment appeared on the cards - but West Ham are much more resolute these days, and manager Paul Konchesky got his tactics spot on.

He told BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: "I think the whole back four and the goalkeeper were fantastic. We knew it was going to be hard but everyone put in a shift from the players that started, the ones that came off the bench and those who were in the stands supporting the team. They were all fantastic.

"We normally start quite badly in the second half but we were fantastic and at 0-0 you have always got a chance. We gave it a good go and maybe on another day we could have got all three points."

They went toe-to-toe with Arsenal at the start, looking to press high and refusing to invite too much pressure. In the second half they began to sit deeper, as Arsenal grew tired and frustrated.

When the home defence was breached, the visitors found Arnold in superb form.

She saved twice from Frida Maanum in the first half, and after the break denied Stina Blackstenius with her leg before smothering at the forward's feet, then making a fine scrambling stop to keep out Rafaelle Souza's flicked effort.