Last season there were already complaints on how Chelsea Women no longer looked like their former selves. This wasn’t the case in the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage as the Blues handily beat some minnows and held eventual champions Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Against AS Roma last season, Chelsea barely noticed the opposition as they got a 6-0 scoreline in their favour. It was complete dominance from start to finish, with three goals on each half and the Italian team barely getting
a scent of the ball.
Fate made us cross paths again this season. Roma didn’t massively improve from one year to the other, but they seemed a lot more clever with their defending this time. Or it was just the case of Chelsea not being as dynamic upfront, even with both Lauren James and Alyssa Thompson on the pitch from kick-off.
It took Ellie Carpenter’s introduction from the bench at the half for Chelsea to finally break the deadlock. Neither James nor Thompson were on the pitch as Carpenter and Sjoeke Nüsken were their substitutes.
It wasn’t for lack of trying that the scoreline remained so thin, as Chelsea did create some good chances in the second half. The usual lack of aim was making everything difficult, until Kadeisha Buchanan rose highest in the area to score our second goal in the final minutes of the match.
Carefree!
- Lauren James starts.
- Uninspiring first half from both sides.
- Ellie Carpenter is a beast.
- Happy birthday, Lucy Bronze!
- Next up: Charlton away in the Women’s Super League.
- KTBFFH!
