Manchester United missed an opportunity to cut the gap at the top of the Women's Super League table to three points as they were held to a 0-0 draw at West Ham.

Victory in Dagenham would have moved Marc Skinner's third-placed side to within one win of title favourites Chelsea, as well as giving them a 10-point cushion over fourth-placed Manchester City in the race for Women's Champions League qualification.

But despite dominating proceedings, they failed to make their possession pay against a West Ham side who are now unbeaten in four WSL matches.

The visitors were twice denied by the woodwork during the first half, with Celin Bizet hitting the post with a first-time strike and a corner clipping the crossbar.

After the break, their best chance fell to Elisabeth Terland, whose 47th-minute header brought a smart stop out of Kinga Szemik, diving low to her left to claw the ball away from the bottom corner.

Hosts West Ham grew into the game in the second half and looked dangerous on the counter-attack through Viviane Asseyi and Riko Ueki, but never really threatened Phallon Tullis-Joyce's goal.

Both sides' positions in the table remain unchanged, with Manchester United third and West Ham seventh.

Manchester United arrived in London in triumphant form. Last Sunday they defeated Manchester City 2-0 to advance to a third successive FA Cup final, while in the league they had lost just once in their past 10 matches.

During that run they scored 25 goals. Going back to September, they had failed to score in the league just twice - a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa and a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

But this season, West Ham have turned Dagenham into a fortress.

Eighteen of their 20 points have come at home, with only the top four teams boasting better home records.

Rehanne Skinner's side have now lost just twice in 10 home matches, going unbeaten in their past five, and conceded just 12 goals.

They are unbeaten in their last four league games, impressively avoided defeat against Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea and now United.

They had to weather the storm against Skinner’s namesake's side - Manchester United enjoyed 66% possession, outshot their hosts 17 to 10, and had 44 touches in the box, while midfielder Bizet enjoyed the freedom of the right wing

West Ham held firm though, to clinch a point and throw another spanner into the battle at the top of the table having taken points off Manchester City and Chelsea this season.

Rehanne Skinner told Sky Sports: "I thought we were incredibly hard to play against, defended brilliantly and managed their threats. Another clean sheet, two on the bounce at home and another point against a team in the top four."

Manchester United's three remaining matches are all against their fellow top-four sides, setting up a potentially nail-biting finish as they, Arsenal, and Manchester City battle for two Champions League berths.

Come the end of the season, Marc Skinner may look back on this match as a crucial two points dropped, particularly given the chances they created.

"We wanted to pick up three points - I think we did enough for that," he told Sky Sports. "They came to stop us winning [and] they've got their point reward.

"[We] just needed a bit of luck in the box today because we created enough. [It's] frustrating but understandable. We needed to maybe be a little more aggressive on some of the crosses we made and then it would have been a win.

"We take another point, another clean sheet for us, and we go into the last three games ready to take on the opponent."