Chelsea kickstarted their European campaign with a comfortable victory over Paris FC. Alyssa Thompson scored her first goal in west London as Sonia Bompastor’s side dominated proceedings. Sandy Baltimore opened the scoring from the penalty spot while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Erin Cuthbert also got on the scoresheet.
It was a memorable night for Thompson who added the hosts’ third immediately after the break. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a bright start to her Chelsea career since making a high-profile £1.1m move from Angel City this summer. She played an integral role in getting Chelsea this Champions League win at Stamford Bridge and Bompastor was delighted with her progression.
“I’m glad for her because I think she’s been working hard and the fact that she was able to score her first goal is really important for her confidence,” she said.
“She’s really quick and she has an engine. I think we haven’t seen the best of her yet but hopefully we’ll see that soon. She’s coming from abroad … It’s a new environment. She needs to learn to connect with the players on the pitch.”
Chelsea had endured a frustrating start to their Champions League challenge, the only trophy to elude their grasp. This will have therefore come as a welcome result after a 1-1 draw against Twente last week in Enschede and a host of wasted opportunities that were starting to cause some consternation.
“I think we were the better team,” Bompastor said. “We created a lot again. We scored really good goals from different players and we could have had more.”
The recent lack of attacking cohesion has not been helped by Bompastor’s rotation. There were just two changes on this occasion with Baltimore and Sjoeke Nüsken coming in.
Paris FC had suffered an equally underwhelming start, surrendering a 2-0 lead to the newcomers OH Leuven. Sandrine Soubeyrand welcomed back the goalkeeper Mylène Chavas while Maëlle Garbino and Anaële Le Moguédec also came in.
It promised to be an intriguing contest between two managers who are very well acquainted. Bompastor and Soubeyrand played for France together for over a decade while also meeting often as managers in the Première Ligue.
Chelsea dominated proceedings from the start. The urgency to score early was clear and led to a series of snatched opportunities when patience was needed. Nüsken and Cuthbert had efforts from distance while Aggie Beever-Jones scuffed two gilt-edged opportunities.
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Roundup: Barça rout Roma, Wolfsburg and Leuven win late
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Alexia Putellas [pictured] scored a penalty but missed another as Barcelona won 4-0 at Roma to maintain their flying start to the league phase. After thrashing Bayern Munich 7-1 in their opener, Barça broke through after just two minutes in the Italian capital, Esmee Brugts scrambling the ball in from close range.
Barcelona won a penalty early in the second half, only for Putellas to send her attempted Panenka over the bar. Just before the hour, Kika Nazareth volleyed into the far corner to double the visitors’ lead, and Putellas made amends with her second spot-kick. Caroline Graham Hansen’s late tap-in completed the rout.
Twente could not follow up last week’s draw with Chelsea as they lost 2-1 at OH Leuven despite taking a first-half lead through Jaimy Ravensbergen. The Dutch side held on until the 82nd minute before conceding a penalty, converted by Linde Veefkind. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Sara Pusztai struck a spectacular winner for Leuven, smashing the ball into the top corner.
Earlier, a much-changed OL Lyonnes side eased to a 3-0 home win over St Pölten. Jule Brand opened the scoring with her first goal for the club, and Ada Hegerberg headed the hosts’ second just before half-time as the Austrian visitors paid for missed chances. Teenage midfielder Lily Yohannes completed the scoring soon after the restart with a brilliant lob from close to the halfway line.
Wolfsburg grabbed a late victory at Vålerenga thanks to Janina Minge’s penalty. The midfielder converted from the spot with the last kick of the game after Naina Inauen’s foul in the area. Wolfsburg took the lead through Lineth Beerensteyn in the 57th minute, but Sara Hørte headed home just three minutes later to level for the hosts in Oslo. Guardian sport
Their pressure eventually told, however, when Nüsken went down in the box with half an hour played. The offence from Le Moguédec was not initially spotted by the referee, Michalina Diakow, but after a brief trip to the VAR monitor, she duly pointed to the spot. Baltimore stepped up to convert for the second week in a row.
Chelsea consolidated their advantage just before the break when Thompson broke forward at pace. A clever turn gave her space to stand up a cross for Rytting Kaneryd to loop a header home. The winger looked slightly bemused that it had ended up in the back of the net, celebrating with an expression that said she is not accustomed to scoring with her head.
Chelsea did not let their foot off the gas and extended their lead immediately after the break with Thompson’s close-range finish. They soon had a fourth when Cuthbert touched home a Sam Kerr header on the line.
There was still time for the Cobham academy product and England youth international Lexi Potter to make her debut as Chelsea saw out a comfortable victory. It was an important three points on the board ahead of a trip to Austria to face St Pölten next month.
