Lucy Bronze scores first Chelsea goal as Crystal Palace put to the sword

Lucy Bronze opened her Chelsea account as the defending Women’s Super League champions secured a 7-0 victory over newcomers Crystal Palace in front of 5,047 fans at Selhurst Park.

Palace defended bravely and had a few chances of their own before Aggie Beever-Jones broke the deadlock in the 38th minute of the hosts’ top-flight home opener.

A dominant Chelsea returned after the break, with Bronze netting her first for the Blues three minutes into the second half before her England team-mate Lauren James tapped home 10 minutes later.

Guro Reiten added a late pair and Nathalie Bjorn also got her name on the scoresheet before substitute Catarina Macario’s stoppage-time effort completed the rout.

James was handed her first start of the season and her first attempt came  shortly after kick-off to force a save from Shae Yanez.

Former Liverpool forward and recent Palace addition Katie Stengel sent a shot across the face of goal before James skied an effort.

James would soon find  the back of the net, but the referee had already blown her whistle following a collision of heads in the build-up.

Yanez denied Johanna Rytting Kaneryd then Beever-Jones, making her first start of the season.

The visitors were lucky when Indiah-Paige Riley intercepted the ball deep inside Chelsea’s half, evading two black shirts before forcing Hannah Hampton into an outstretched save.

Chelsea continuing to enjoy the lion’s share of possession as the deadlock remained intact and the hosts continued in search of a breakthrough.

That opportunity nearly came when Fliss Gibbons tried to get behind Sjoeke Nusken’s nod back to her keeper, narrowly outpaced by the opposition as she rushed into Chelsea’s penalty area.

The Blues finally took the lead on the counter when Kaneryd cut back to an unmarked Beever-Jones, who fired into the bottom corner from 12 yards.

Annabel Blanchard looked to level before the break but directed her effort wide as Chelsea preserved their lead.

Bronze extended Chelsea’s advantage three minutes after the restart as the hosts only half-cleared Ashley Lawrence’s cross.

The ball landed at the feet of the England defender, who finished into the top-left corner.

James added another 10 minutes later, tapping in substitute Mayra Ramirez’s cross from a yard out as a more predictably dominant Chelsea side began to emerge.

Palace had a chance to claw one back when Lily Woodham’s cross found Stengel, who tried putting her thigh behind the ball but directed the effort wide from a tight angle.

Reiten made it four after another bit of fine build-up from the visitors as Chelsea worked the ball to substitute Macario then Wieke Kaptein, who cut back for the Norwegian to apply the 78th-minute finish.

Floodgates firmly open, Bjorn added her name to the scoresheet, before Reiten bagged her brace on the stroke of normal time.

Just as it seemed Yanez had settled the scoreline by denying Ramirez, Macario pounced and prodded home the Blues’ seventh.