Why is no one talking about this 9-0 win from CHELSEA

Why is no one talking about the 9-0 win for the women in blue?

Chelsea women's preseason under Sonia Bompastor has been a fairytale with a win after winning, some score lines more convincing than others. This is a good sign that all players perform at peak before the season begins. Last season's fear of who the week-in and week-out goal scorer was when Sam Kerr did her ACL is gone, with six different goal scorers in this game, one being a defender. Chelsea have all goalscorers across the pitch.

This friendly against Feyenoord was the first victory under managership at home at Kingsmeadow, the pride and joy of this team and a place of rich winning history.

Though the performance was perfect, there are concerns for Niamh Charles and Sophie Ingles. The former was crucial in last season's defence, which held Chelsea together to retain the WSL, and the latter has been a trusted, experienced midfielder for Chelsea for years now.

Within the first eight minutes of the game, the win was there for Chelsea to lose with a 2-goal advantage already achieved. With two goals finished from the centre of the box, a second goal in blue for Sandy Baltimore in back-to-back games.  Baltimore showed clever movement to beat the offside trap as the Feyenoord defenders attempted to push out from deep inside the box, settling well into the English game.

The home. The ball was put back in low by Nusken before Sandy nudged a finish past the keeper as she rushed off the line. This was another epic goal for the Columbian Mayra Ramirez; the side was comfortably weathering Feyenoord’s attacks, marshalled excellently at the back as ever by skipper Bright, while at the other end, the combination of Lauren James and Charles down our left was causing Feyenoord constant problems, as was the skill of Baltimore in the middle.

Chelsea goalkeeper Musovic was not threatened, with captain Millie Bright commanding the back line. After limited game time last season due to a long-term knee injury, it is always lovely to see the trains back on the field.

But the drama did not just come from the scoreline. The game became more difficult for the Dutch side when Celainy Obispo was booked twice in seconds, first for a foul on Ramirez and then again for dissent in the aftermath. However, due to a pre-existing agreement between the two teams, Feyenoord were allowed to replace the defender, maintaining 11v11 on the pitch. This is what friends are all about practising for the real thing. Rules are there for safety, so this strategy was a good show of sportsmanship under these circumstances.

Though they were still lucky to have 11 players on the pitch, that did not help them prevent a looping finish by Nusken.

By the end of the first half, there were another two goals, one of which was a top bin from Sjoeke Nusken, the German who had a brilliant first season with the Blues last time around. 

There was a brief moment of concern when Romee van de Lavoir spotted Musovic off her line and attempted a lob from halfway, but the Blues keeper recovered in time to save. However, it was largely one-way traffic now, and Feyenoord cleared another off their line after James’ curling effort was deflected up and over the keeper.

Plus, a close-range finish from the newbie on the block, Wieke Kaptein.

Given the fact it took mere minutes for Chelsea to start scoring in the first half, it was a shock it took them 15 minutes to score in the second 45 minutes

Millie Bright got across the front post well from a corner to glance a header across the goal, which bounced through the bodies and crept inside. If you ask me to score, it was just a classic defender and bright goal, making it five goals for the home team. 

Then came the changes as a friendly; there are no limits to subs being made. Bompastor took the opportunity to use all her subs, bar Hannah Hampton, to give everyone a chance to prove themselves, get some good game time, and increase fitness and stamina after the summer break.

Maika HaMano, who scored that crucial goal against the Spurs last season, which kept Chelsea's title hopes alive, set up Aggie Beever-Jones for her first touch of the game and scored from it. She was electric and grabbed herself a 27-minute hat-trick, not deficient in her second first-team season after coming in halfway through last season as a starting 11 player to replace Kerr. That is how Chelsea scored nine goals, 1 goal every ten minutes in one game this pre-season. 

Easy title defence?

Many people thought this was the end with Emma gone and super Fran. The history and reason for their past success have left the nest of Chelsea, and with a new manager who has not played or managed in England, could have been concerned. But I was sure not. She is a manager who has threatened Barcelona. In the last two or so Champions League finals, she hates them as much as Chelsea fans do for getting in our way of the Alluded trophy. The women's team has yet to be infected by Chelsea's poor owners and has been left to make its own decisions, which is good. If it's not broken, why fix it?

The game saw three home debutants open the scoring, showing the depth and the summer signings starting off to a good start

What's next

Chelsea's following action is the start of the Women's Super League in two weeks, back here at Kingsmeadow, when we host Aston Villa at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 20.

The teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): g; Bronze, Bright (c) (Mpome 74), Buchanan (Bjorn 63), Charles (Lawrence 45); Nusken, Kaptein (Ingle h-t) (Perisset 74); Rytting Kaneryd (Hamano 63), Baltimore (Bernabe 74), James (Reiten 63); Ramirez (Beever-Jones 63)
Unused sub: Hampton
Scorers: Baltimore 5, Ramirez 8, Nusken 32, Kaptein 45+3, Bright 62, Beever-Jones 75, 85, 90+2, Hamano 77

Feyenoord (4-4-2): Szymczak; Koga (Mulder 66), Verspaget, Obispo (Van Bentem 30), Brandau (Heij h-t); Van de Lavoir (Braun 66), Waldus (c) (Lont 66), Teulings (Baubadi 66), De Graaf (Oudejans 66); Conijnenberg (Balkhir 66), Van Kerkhoven (Koopmans h-t)
Unused sub: Weimer, Eijk
Booked: Obispo 28
Sent off: Obispo 29