Chelsea edge past Aston Villa to make winning start under Sonia Bompastor in the Women's Super League
Published 20/09/2024 at 21:38 GMT+1
Chelsea got the job done under new manager Sonia Bompastor, as they narrowly overcame Aston Villa with a 1-0 victory. The Blues had to weather a considerable amount of late pressure from the visitors, who also had a new face in the dugout with Robert de Pauw. The Dutchman's side could have left south west London with at least a point, but it was the champions who took all three points.
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Chelsea began their quest to secure a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title with a narrow 1-0 win over a resilient Aston Villa side at Kingsmeadow.
It marked a winning start in the dugout for new manager Sonia Bompastor, but her Blues side were made to work hard for the three points by Robert de Pauw’s enterprising team.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's first-half strike proved to be the difference, with De Pauw marking his first match as Villa boss with a defeat.
The new-era theme at Kingsmeadow was heightened by the appearance of England star Lucy Bronze in Chelsea’s starting 11.
She was making her debut for the club after arriving from Barcelona in the summer.
Villa had a chance to break the deadlock early on when another new face - Missy Bo-Kearns - could not find the target from Chasity Grant's delivery.
The Blues gradually found their flow, as early opportunities fell to Guro Reiten, Kadeisha Buchanan and Erin Cuthbert.
The only goal of the game came courtesy of Rytting Kaneryd, which was worthy of winning any match.
The Swede drifted into a central position on the edge of the box, cut inside, and unleashed a superb left-footed strike past Sabrina D'Angelo in the 36th minute.
Those Chelsea fans hoping that goal would open up the floodgates were left disappointed, with Villa coming agonisingly close to taking home a share of the spoils late in the contest.
Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was called into action on multiple occasions against her former club to preserve Chelsea's slender lead.
She made a fine save to keep out a header from England team-mate Rachel Daly, before denying D'Angelo what would have been a dramatic late equaliser, tipping her counterpart's header onto the crossbar deep into stoppage time.
Villa will take plenty of heart from this gutsy display, on an evening where they had a greater share of possession and shots on target.
However, the crucial statistic which matters went in Chelsea's favour in their quest to secure a sixth consecutive WSL title.
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