West Ham slipped to the bottom of the Women’s Super League table with a fifth successive defeat as Karen Holmgaard’s header saw them beaten 1-0 by Everton at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Substitute Holmgaard headed in from a corner in the 63rd minute, moments after Hammers forward Riko Ueki had seen a shot superbly tipped against a post by Courtney Brosnan.

Having lost five WSL games in a row for the first time, West Ham drop to the foot of the table with four points from nine fixtures, Rehanne Skinner’s side swapping places with Bristol City, who climbed above following a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

Brian Sorensen’s Everton rise to seventh spot after completing back-to-back victories, following the 2-1 triumph at Aston Villa last time out.

An early chance for the Toffees saw Nicoline Sorensen skew off-target before West Ham replied with Viviane Asseyi bursting forward and shooting wide from the edge of the area and Amber Tysiak heading over.

Toni Duggan tried her luck inside the hosts’ box in the 21st minute, but saw her shot go across the face of goal and wide.

A decent West Ham move ended with Jessica Ziu failing to connect properly from a good position and the ball being cleared, while Ueki was then unable to send a header goalwards from a fine Asseyi delivery.

As a somewhat scrappy first half neared a conclusion, Everton skipper Megan Finnigan got her head to a corner, but missed the target.

Pressure from Skinner’s side after the break saw Brosnan called in to action to deal with efforts from Ueki and Asseyi.

And the Republic of Ireland international then made a fantastic save just past the hour mark as she got a touch to Ueki’s shot to divert it on to a post after the visitors lost possession in their own box.

Two minutes later, Everton had the lead as Sara Holmgaard lofted a corner to the back post and Karen Holmgaard headed downwards past Megan Walsh.

As West Ham sought out an equaliser, Asseyi was presented with a good opportunity in the 72nd minute, but her header went straight into Brosnan’s arms.

The France forward was then unable to get to a Ueki header on the stretch in the closing stages as West Ham slumped to another loss with one more league game to go before the winter break.