Today’s Chelsea Women’s rival, West Ham, is not in a good place this season. Located in penultimate place in the Women’s Super League with five points recorded in 11 games, they took advantage of the winter holidays to change things by hiring former Juventus and Inter Milan coach Rita Guarino.
A new coach can help provide that initial boost that sometimes saves a club an entire year. But it’s hard to get that momentum when you’re facing the reigning champions in your debut.
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No wonder everything went wrong very quickly for the visitors. Ellie Carpenter’s low cross turned into a Yu Endo own goal just 46 seconds into the game.
An already shaky defensive line didn’t improve much after the first game. Hence Lauren James’ goal on an extremely poor back pass to goalkeeper Kinga Szemik, where the Chelsea attacker only needed to block her shot attempt to get on the scoreboard.
Before the end of the half there was time for Chelsea to score two more goals. One from Alyssa Thompson in a very good collective play to set it up, and another from Sandy Baltimore with good infiltration and a shot to beat Szemik between the posts.
The second half wasn’t as action-packed because we didn’t need it. We still found a fifth goal with Sandy scoring from the penalty spot.
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Carefree!
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A 3-5-2/3-4-3 shape with Lauren James acting as a false nine of sorts.
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Four goals in the first half and very little to worry about at the back.
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Great performance by Sandy Baltimore today. A true two-way threat on the pitch.
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Next game: Crystal Palace at home in the FA Cup.