Sonia Bompastor had wanted to see more efficiency from her team after their 1-0 win against Aston Villa on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season; at Crystal Palace she got just that, a 7-0 demolition ensuring there was absolutely no chance of nervy moments late on.
It took Chelsea until deep into the first half to take the lead against newly promoted Palace. But the second goal arrived soon after half-time, Lucy Bronze scoring her first in a Chelsea shirt, ensuring any confidence Palace might take from the narrow deficit was well and truly quashed. Then Lauren James added a third, Guro Reiten a fourth, Nathalie Björn a fifth, Reiten a sixth and Catarina Macario a seventh.
“You can always ask for more, there is always room for improvement, especially in the first half. I think we created some opportunities, we created some good chances, we only scored one and I think we should have scored two or three,” said Bompastor. “When you are able to be clinical it kills the game. This is the mentality we have to have. I know my players try so hard and it wasn’t on purpose that they didn’t score, it’s something mental and we need to help them to have that confidence. Sometimes when you really want to score you get nervous.”
Following their messy 4-0 defeat by Tottenham, Palace’s Laura Kaminski made two changes, both enforced, with Brooke Aspin and Lexi Potter ineligible for the visit of their parent club, with the former also serving a suspension. In their stead first starts were handed to the summer recruits Lily Woodham and Ann My Cato.
Meanwhile, Aggie Beever-Jones, James and Björn all returned to the starting XI for Chelsea. Bompastor had praised her opposite, Kaminski, in the buildup to the meeting of the south London sides. “I watched the game against Tottenham,” she said. “The result was severe, but I felt that it didn’t reflect the performance.”
There were positive signs against Tottenham but there was also a lot to fix, and the first half against Chelsea was far more impressive. Palace were focused and well-drilled, a back five employed to soak up the pressure, they were also tenacious in possession, but were let down by the slower thinking and physical inferiority that is inherent in teams moving up to the top division.
“Last year in the Championship we’d have a lot of possession and on the turnover, we’d not get punished so harshly,” said Kaminski. “You would almost make a mistake and be able to get away with it a little bit because maybe the technical quality is not as high across the entire squad, I’m alluding to the strength and depth of entire squads in the WSL … when we make mistakes we’re learning harsh lessons.”
It was 38 minutes before the champions made the breakthrough and it was a sucker punch. Fliss Gibbons was unable to get on the end of a ball at one end and Chelsea punished them, last week’s goalscorer, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, on the right pulling it back for Beever-Jones to fire in.
The second goal came three minutes after the restart when Palace failed to clear Ashley Lawrence’s cross and the ball landed kindly for Bronze, who arrived from the right and side-footed it first time into the far corner.
With Palace’s resolve broken and legs tiring, Chelsea’s third was not long in coming. Beever-Jones provided for the substitute Mayra Ramírez whose low cross across the face of goal was turned in by James.
The visitors’ fourth was like the first, in that it came straight after Palace went close to scoring, Katie Stengel sending an effort wide before, at the other end, Macario found Wieke Kaptein who flicked it on for Reiten to turn in.
The fifth arrived from a corner, Macario’s delivery turned in by Björn at the back post ahead of the defender Katrine Veje, Reiten scored her second for the sixth and Macario fired in late on.
It was comfortable for Chelsea in the end, far more so than the first half suggested. “Tonight, on the defensive part of the game we have some work to do and there is some progress [to be made],” said Bompastor.
Alongside the first half, the crowd was another positive for Palace, with a turnout for Selhurst Park’s WSL debut of 5,003 fans who gave an ovation to their departing players on the final whistle. “It feels like the fans have an understanding of the group and this level and what we’re trying to achieve,” said Kaminski.
However, the gap between the WSL and Championship is large, adjusting to the top level’s mental pace and physical intensity taking time. Time promoted teams don’t really have. Palace have work to do, but results against the top three will not be the measure of a successful season.
