LONDON, England (Reuters) – Reigning Women’s Super League champions Chelsea scored six second-half goals as they thrashed newscomers 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 their opening game last weekend, Palace looked reasonably comfortable defending in the early stages, but Chelsea, who beat Aston Villa 2-0 in their first league game, broke their 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, who travel to take on Manchester City on Sunday.
Things are already looking ominous for Palace, who are bottom of the 12-team table with no goals scored and 11 conceded after their first two top-flight games.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor)
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