FC Twente Vrouwen 1-3 Chelsea Women
Chelsea Women sailed on in Europe, topping their group with a Thursday night victory over Twente in the Netherlands, thanks largely to two bold individual strikes by Blues forwards.
Aggie Beever-Jones, rapidly becoming an indispensable team member, got the ball rolling after seven minutes, linking up with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (in at the last moment for the injured Lauren James) and shooting from the edge of the area.
Her shot took a big deflection and looped over the head of keeper Olivia Clark, the Welsh national goalminder, who could only watch as the ball sailed past.
Then Maika Hamano scored an even more audacious strike, blasting an optimistic shot goalwards from nearly 40 yards. It should never have troubled Clark, but the keeper had advanced upfield and was stranded as it bulged the net.
Twente never recovered. Guro Reiten, a second-half sub, added a kick from the spot after Mayra Ramirez was upended in the penalty area, and despite the Dutch side getting a consolation goal from Nikee van Dijk, thanks to the most exquisite through ball of the night, Chelsea remained in control at 3-1.
Manager Sonia Bompastor watched intently from the technical area as she continues to get to know her squad and work out how those returning from injury (notably Sam Kerr, Naimh Charles, Mia Fishel, Sophie Ingle and Catarina Macario) will slot in to her team selection.
"We are top now, which is the main goal," said Sonia after the game. "We had the opportunity to rotate and manage some players, so they could rest in preparation for the game on Sunday [when Chelsea host Spurs at Kingsmeadow]."
She revealed that James, who had appeared on the teamsheet but withdrew just before kick-off, had felt a problem in her foot during the squad's warm-up on the pitch, and had been rested as a precaution.
It's still too early to say if she'll be fit for Sunday evening at 6.45pm, but as the Twente game proved, there are plenty of alternative options.
Chelsea Women's fans, who were well-represented among the 4,000 crowd in Twente's De Grolsch Veste stadium, have been basking in the news of the departure of Arsenal's Swedish manager Jonas Eidevall, following the Blues' win at the Emirates stadium at the weekend.
Once the dominant force in English women's football, the Gunners have steadily slipped down the pecking order to be behind Chelsea and Manchester City.
While Eidevall did win two league cups with Arsenal, Chelsea achieved FIVE successive league titles during his reign. Losing record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema in the summer on a free transfer to rivals City infuriated Gunners fans, and a draw against Everton, defeat by Bayern Munich and the loss to Chelsea meant his days were numbered.
"As an Arsenal women's season ticket holder, I'm pleased Jonas has gracefully departed," said one. "He'd lost the support of a significant number of players and supporters. I admire Arsenal's loyalty, but they should have taken decisive action in the summer."
Chelsea's next European action is a double-header against Celtic… a tie particularly relished by Erin Cuthbert, who played for Scottish arch rivals Glasgow City (helping them win the domestic treble) before signing for the Blues in 2017.
Chelsea travel to Scotland for part one on Wednesday 13 November, then host The Ghirls at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 20 November at 8pm. Tickets now on sale.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
