Ruthless Chelsea smash Palace for seven at Selhurst Park

Chelsea wrapped up a stunning victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to continue their winning start to the Women’s Super League campaign.

The Blues took the lead through Aggie Beever-Jones when she finished off a devastating counter-attack after a positive Palace move broke down.

The reigning WSL champions then pulled further away when summer signing Lucy Bronze made it 2-0 quickly after the break, before Lauren James, Nathalie Bjorn, Catarina Macario and two from Guro Reiten added to their goal tally.

Laura Kaminski’s newly-promoted Palace side showed promise despite the heavy defeat in their first home WSL match, coming close through Annabel Blanchard, Indiah-Paige Riley and Katie Stengel.

But though they defended well for large spells of the first half, Chelsea were still able to create chances and it was only a matter of time before they showed their clinical approach in front of goal.

England forward James was a constant threat, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd continued her hugely impressive start to the season with another assist and dominating display on Chelsea’s right wing.

Full-back Bronze was rewarded for her attacking intent with a first goal since joining from Barcelona, and already proving to be a strong recruit by new manager Sonia Bompastor.

This was another harsh lesson for Palace, who are yet to score a WSL goal and have conceded 11 in their first two matches.