Chelsea women's player ratings vs Paris FC: Alyssa Thompson has lift off - USWNT star's first goal helps fire Blues to Champions League rout
With two open-play goals in their last three games, a lot of the talk coming into Chelsea's Women's Champions League clash with Paris FC on Wednesday night was about the dominant force in English football, and one of the front-runners for this trophy, not being quite themselves in front of goal. But Sonia Bompastor's Blues were able to quieten those doubters in their final game before the international break, with a 4-0 victory over the Parisians at Stamford Bridge.At first, it looked like that devastatingly clinical touch remained somewhat absent, with Aggie Beever-Jones, who scored in all of her first four Women's Super League outings last month, scuffing a couple of great chances into the grateful arms of Mylene Chavas. But once Sandy Baltimore broke the deadlock from the spot, after the award of a rather fortuitous penalty, Chelsea got into the sort of groove in front of goal that has become ominously familiar in recent years.Johanna Rytting Kaneryd doubled that lead a few minutes later with a truly terrific header that seemed to even surprise herself, while Beever-Jones was unlucky not to make it three before the break when her near-post flick from Erin Cuthbert's corner struck the underside of the bar. Alyssa Thompson would do so instead, adding to her assist for Rytting Kaneryd with a clinical finish at the far post just two minutes after the restart.Chelsea's attacking threat only grew once Bompastor used that third goal as a trigger to turn to her bench, with the likes of Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten coming on to wrap things up. It was Kerr's header that created the chance for Cuthbert to make it four just past the hour and Reiten was unlucky not to round things off with a fifth, when her strike clipped the top of the crossbar. But the job was already well and truly done, as the Blues got their first Champions League win of a season which they will hope ends with them finally getting their hands on that elusive European trophy.GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Stamford Bridge...
With two open-play goals in their last three games, a lot of the talk coming into Chelsea's Women's Champions League clash with Paris FC on Wednesday night was about the dominant force in English football, and one of the front-runners for this trophy, not being quite themselves in front of goal. But Sonia Bompastor's Blues were able to quieten those doubters in their final game before the international break, with a 4-0 victory over the Parisians at Stamford Bridge.At first, it looked like that devastatingly clinical touch remained somewhat absent, with Aggie Beever-Jones, who scored in all of her first four Women's Super League outings last month, scuffing a couple of great chances into the grateful arms of Mylene Chavas. But once Sandy Baltimore broke the deadlock from the spot, after the award of a rather fortuitous penalty, Chelsea got into the sort of groove in front of goal that has become ominously familiar in recent years.Johanna Rytting Kaneryd doubled that lead a few minutes later with a truly terrific header that seemed to even surprise herself, while Beever-Jones was unlucky not to make it three before the break when her near-post flick from Erin Cuthbert's corner struck the underside of the bar. Alyssa Thompson would do so instead, adding to her assist for Rytting Kaneryd with a clinical finish at the far post just two minutes after the restart.Chelsea's attacking threat only grew once Bompastor used that third goal as a trigger to turn to her bench, with the likes of Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten coming on to wrap things up. It was Kerr's header that created the chance for Cuthbert to make it four just past the hour and Reiten was unlucky not to round things off with a fifth, when her strike clipped the top of the crossbar. But the job was already well and truly done, as the Blues got their first Champions League win of a season which they will hope ends with them finally getting their hands on that elusive European trophy.GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Stamford Bridge...
