FC Twente 1-3 Chelsea, Women's Champions League: Post-match reaction

Yesterday at 04:55 PM

Three points taken in the Netherlands!

Thus far this season, one thing Chelsea Women have been doing extremely well is imposing themselves in the first minutes of the match. It's been one of the "open secrets" to the team's success, with very early goals setting the tone as to how the match will go for the Blues.

Today was no different. The Blues got themselves on the front foot basically from kick-off, winning challenges and beating markers high up the pitch. In one such occasion Johanna Rytting Kaneryd laid it off to Aggie Beever-Jones, who tried her luck from range. A lucky deflect fooled Twente's shot-stopper, and got ABJ the opening goal of the night.

Another young attacker, Maika Hamano, was the player sharing the shooting burden with ABJ on the pitch. Her close quarters' attempts didn't bear fruit. When she tried it from nearly 40 yards out, it finally did.

Aside from one moment in which our lackadaisical effort in maintaining possessive structure led to the back line having to clear the ball for a corner right after a Zecira Musovic parry, Twente didn't give us much trouble in defence in the first half. They would try to change that in the second half, but their lack of quality in front of the goal and a good display from our back line would make it really difficult for the hosts to really find any shots against Musovic.

Chelsea weren't as keen in attack as they were in the first half, but they were still a threat. Head coach Sonia Bompastor then decided to bring in Mayra Ramírez, who took only three minutes to win a penalty for Chelsea. From the spot, Guro Reiten — another attacker coming from the bench today — duly converted the chance to make it 3-0.

But no team is perfect, and neither is any performance. Chelsea's defence is this team's weak point in whatever point of view you analyze. And in a combination of poor decision-making and positioning, Twente pulled one back via Nikee van Dijk.

The goal gave Twente the confidence boost that they could push for more, and perhaps find a comeback with less than 25 minutes of football left to play. However Chelsea kept calm and managed the game wisely until the final whistle was blown by the referee.

Carefree!

• Another game with a lineup change right before kick-off, this time with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd in place of Lauren James.
• First ever start for Oriane Jean-François, playing midfield next to Wieke Kaptein in the latter's return to her former club.
• Sonia Bompastor's decision to rotate her squad seemed weird at first given how important these Champions League group stage games are. ABJ and Hamano's goals then showed she had the right mindset in doing so.
• Mayra Ramírez winning a penalty only two minutes coming into the game is a great way to encapsulate how impactful she's been for the Blues since her arrival.
• Next up: Tottenham at home in the Women's Super League.
• KTBFFH!