Sonia Bompastor had wanted to see more efficiency from her team after their 1-0 victory against Aston Villa on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season; at Crystal Palace she got just that, a 7-0 demolition ensuring there was absolutely no chance of nervy moments late on.

“In a high-level game, when you are not able to get the second goal, you just give more confidence to the opposition,” Bompastor had said after the defeat of Villa, in which the opposition goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo had tested Hannah Hampton late on. It took Chelsea until deep into the first half to take the lead against newly promoted Palace, but the second goal arrived soon after, Lucy Bronze scoring her first in a Chelsea shirt to ensure any confidence Palace might take from the narrow deficit was well and truly quashed. Then Lauren James added a third, Guro Reiten a fourth, Nathalie Björn a fifth, Reiten a sixth and Catarina Macario a seventh.