Chelsea 4-0 Paris FC result: Blues cruise to dominant first victory of UEFA Women’s Champions League season

Chelsea made easy work of their opening home game of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, thumping visitors Paris FC 4-0.

Coming into the game off the back of a disjointed 1-1 draw with Twente in their opening fixture of the league phase, Chelsea dominated with little end product for the opening half hour at Stamford Bridge, before a soft penalty decision allowed Sandy Baltimore the chance to score from the spot.

Taking the lead opened the game up slightly, and The Blues took complete control of the match with further goals either side of half-time, with star signing Alyssa Thompson having a big hand in both.

The American’s superb run and cross set up Johanna Rytting Kaneryd to direct a header beyond the goalkeeper on 40 minutes, and it was Thompson who was on the end of the delivery just moments after the interval, arriving at the back post to score her first goal for the club since making a record move in the summer.

A three-goal cushion prompted both sides to make a string of changes, with the game drifting slightly towards full-time.

But Chelsea added gloss to the scoreline when Sam Kerr’s misdirected header pinballed off a defender and Erin Cuthbert before nestling in the back of the Paris net.

The win moves Chelsea temporarily up into the top four, with further matches to be played on Thursday evening.

But The Blues know there will be far tougher tests to come, with games against the current top two, Barcelona and Wolfsburg, making up half of the reigning WSL champions’ remaining league-phase fixture list.

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Veteran Paris FC midfielder Daphné Corboz has been speaking to the host broadcaster, and she has pretty succinctly summed up the one-sided nature of that contest.

"Obviously, we would have liked to have tried to keep the ball a bit more, but unfortunately today they were just too good for us," she said, adding:

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After the disappointment of a draw against Twente in their opening league phase game, it was important for Chelsea to get a win in their first home match, and it will be a big relief for manager Sonia Bompastor that her side made it so comfortable on the night.

This result leaves the Blues on four points and with plenty of hope of finishing in those top four places in the table to secure a quarter-final berth at the first time of asking, but they know that there’s a lot of work still to do if they are to make it into the knockouts as a seeded team and avoid that tricky play-off round.

Austrian side St Pölten are next up for Chelsea in Matchday 3, before a tricky trio of games complete the league phase, with Barcelona, Roma and VfL Wolfsburg rounding off Chelsea’s Champions League fixture list.

The final whistle blows and the fans at Stamford Bridge celebrate a comfortable 4-0 win for the WSL Champions.

There will be four minutes added on at the end of this game. You sense Paris FC could do without that.

The clock is ticking towards full-time and Chelsea are heading for three valuable points here. There will be tougher tests to come, but this is an important win for a team who are looking to finally end their wait for the biggest trophy in the European game.

Teenage debutant Lexi Potter pulls off a lovely turn in midfield to win possession, before sending a gorgeous pass out to the left. That’s lovely football. The move ends when Nüsken tries to cushion a header into the patch of Kerr, when she had time to take it down and shoot herself.

Substitute Hamano has been lively since coming on, and she keeps her composure in the box, turning onto her right foot and getting a shot away. It’s a comfortable save, but Chelsea continue to push for more.

Sam Kerr attempts to win the ball in a 50-50 challenge, and catches the defender with a high boot in the head while simultaneously standing on her other ankle. There wasn’t intent, but there also wasn’t much regard for the safety of the opponent either, and the Paris players are pretty miffed by a challenge like that given the state of the game.

Clara Mateo, the Paris FC captain and France international, is withdrawn, which underlines that this game is well and truly done. She’s been good in patches but with very little support in forward areas.

Reiten darts down the left and attempts an audacious effort that dips over the keeper but crashes off the frame of the goal. What a hit that is! It deserves a goal.

Baltimore, the scorer of the opening goal, makes way, with youngster Potter coming on for her Chelsea debut. That’s a special moment for the 19-year-old.

There’s a stoppage in play, with the physios rushing out to treat Paris player Ndongala, who was taken out in the air by Bright and is in a bit of discomfort.

The tempo has gone out of the game somewhat, but Chelsea know that goal difference could be crucial come the end of the league phase, and so they’re still trying to get things going.

It’s been a tough night for the visitors, who look set to be on one point after two of their six games. Realistically that leaves them battling to get one of the play-off round spots, as it’s likely to be a real high-level scrap for those top four places. They turn to their bench to give some of their starters some rest, with this game done as a contest.

And another! A corner is whipped in and Paris fail to deal with it. Kerr has the goal at her mercy, unmarked at the back post, yet somehow fails to score herself, hitting the only defender on the line. But the ball deflects straight on to Cuthbert and in, much to the hilarity of the Chelsea players. 4-0.

Bronze whips a cross in and the keeper spills a pretty routine take. Paris hack it clear, but only as far as the edge of the box, where Baltimore’s eyes light up but she can’t keep her shot down.

On comes another player working her way back to fitness. Lucy Bronze comes on, replacing Kaptein.