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United States international Catarina Macario scored on her return for Chelsea as they soared to a 7-0 win over newly promoted Crystal Palace in a ruthless display at Selhurst Park.
Palace faced their most formidable challenge in the Women’s Super League (WSL) yet, facing reigning champions Chelsea in their first home game in the top tier.
And Chelsea exploited the disparity between the sides, cruising to victory in south London. Six different goal scorers were on the score sheet, including Macario, who was making her return to the pitch after a knee injury ruled her out of the USWNT’s gold medal-winning Olympic campaign.
“[It’s] always good to have some players back, especially Catarina with her quality,” Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor told reporters. “She’s a high player, really talented and everyone knows what she can bring to the team.
“I think tonight it was not only about one player but more about the team performance. I think when you look at the team performance, it is always important. When you have a good team performance, it is always easier for individual players to perform in the team.”
For much of the first half, Chelsea were lacking a clinical edge, unable to convert any of their 11 shots until Aggie Beever-Jones broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 38th minute against the run of play.
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Palace were struggling in defence, looking shaky and lacking strong communication, often leaving themselves vulnerable for Chelsea to pounce.
It was a similar story for their attack. Several opportunities were squandered for the hosts to take an early lead and they came close to an equaliser but could not conquer Chelsea’s strong back line.
Lucy Bronze doubled the visitor’s lead two minutes into the second half with a rocket strike from the edge of the area. The goal marked the 32-year-old’s first since signing for Chelsea and returning to the WSL.
This opened the floodgates for Chelsea to take complete control of the evening, netting six second-half goals in a rampant display.
Lauren James capitalised on the build-up play from substitute Mayra Ramírez, who set the 22-year-old up perfectly to slot home from close range.
Four goals in the final 20 minutes of the evening completely derailed Palace’s chances of securing a point as Guro Reiten netted a brace and Nathalie Björn headed home from a well-worked corner.
Macario added the seventh goal in the final minute of stoppage time to complete the emphatic performance from the visitors. The forward was also vital in the build-up to the previous two goals.
“You can always ask for more, there is always room for improvement, especially in the first half,” Bompastor added. “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.
“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. You have to get the balance between getting them confidence and the relaxing mental part.”
Palace’s time in the WSL so far has not been easy. They suffered a 4-0 drubbing at Tottenham Hotspur last week to open their WSL account. Meanwhile, Chelsea secured a narrow 1-0 win over Aston Villa in new Bompastor’s league debut.
The Blues discovered their UEFA Women’s Champions League group-stage opponents earlier in the afternoon. They will face debutants Celtic, FC Twente and Real Madrid, who were also drawn into their group last season.
The Champions League group games begin on Oct. 18/19, but Bompastor will face her biggest tests as Chelsea manager in the league, playing Manchester United on Oct. 6 and Arsenal on Oct. 12 before their continental campaign gets underway.