Reigning Women’s Super League champion Chelsea scored six second-half goals as it thrashed newscomer Crystal Palace 7-0 on Friday to take an early lead in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.
After slumping to a 4-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in its opening game last weekend, Palace looked reasonably comfortable defending in the early stages, but Chelsea, which beat Aston Villa 2-0 in its first league game, broke its resistance with an Aggie Beever-Jones goal in the 38th minute.
It all fell apart after the break for the Eagles, with Chelsea fullback Lucy Bronze, who signed in the off-season after her contract at Barcelona expired, making it two in the 48th minute with a perfectly-placed rising strike, and it only got worse from there for the home side.
Lauren James added the third before the hour mark with a close-range finish and winger Guro Reiten and defender Nathalie Bjorn then added two more in the space of a few minutes.
Reiten helped herself to another goal in the 90th minute to make it 6-0, and Catarina Macario completed the rout with a stoppage-time goal to send the Blues top with a perfect six points after two games, three ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion, which travels to take on Manchester City on Sunday.
Things are already looking ominous for Palace, which is bottom of the 12-team table with no goals scored and 11 conceded after its first two top-flight games.
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