Sophie Downey’s report from Stamford Bridge is in, so that’s all from me. Cheers for joining!
Very little to shout about for Paris FC, with Hannah Hampton barely required – Chelsea’s possession exceeded 70%. “Obviously, we would have liked to have tried to keep the ball a bit more, but unfortunately today they were just too good for us,” says Paris’ Daphné Corboz.
There was a bit of tension in the first half, with Chelsea struggling again in front of goal, Aggie Beever-Jones getting in decent positions but failing to properly launch. A penalty took the edge off and from there they got moving: Alyssa Thompson was both creator and goalscorer to wrap the game up shortly after half-time.
FULL-TIME: Chelsea 4-0 Paris FC
Chelsea are up and running: after a tricky point at Twente, this was a pretty straightforward victory, their first in this season’s Champions League.
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90+3 min: Reiten whips in from the left into the area, finding Hamano … but she can’t keep her balance for the perfect first-time hit.
90+2 min: Millie Bright is finally forced into defensive action, sliding to clear as Bogaert, thundering down the left for Paris, very nearly gets on the end of a through ball.
90+1 min: Four minutes added on … and the relentless Cuthbert miscues a cross, sending it out of bounds.
90 min: Cuthbert, refusing to relax, drives through the middle as Chelsea break, nearly plays in Kerr … but Davis is there to clear up.
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88 min: Sharlie Yerro, 16, is on for Paris. A night for her to remember, even if her teammates would rather forget it.
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84 min: Cuthbert tries to get her second – this time with a bit more purpose – but her shot from the left-hand side asks little from Chavas.
81 min: Reiten nearly delivers a sublime team goal: the ball is worked into Kerr in the area, who lays off first-time for Hamano on the right. The ball is driven across goal but Reiten’s shot is blocked by Liaigre.
79 min: There’s another pause for a Paris injury, the game very much petering out.
77 min: Walsh, surrounded by three Paris shirts, keeps control of the ball out on the right for Chelsea. Oh, and Lexi Potter, 19, has come on for Chelsea, replacing Baltimore a few minutes ago.
75 min: Reiten very nearly has Chelsea’s fifth … breaking free on the left but clipping the crossbar with her effort.
74 min: N’Dongala, who came on at half-time, is back up and looks like she’ll be OK to carry on.
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72 min: N’Dongala is down for Paris, looking in some proper bother.
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71 min: Bronze sprints down the right and is picked out by Bright … the first-time ball towards the penalty spot is met by Kerr, whose shot is deflected for a corner.
70 min: Pass, pass, pass from Chelsea as the ball is recycled back to Bright and Björn.
67 min: Baltimore shows off some silky footwork out on the left, following on from her key role for the fourth goal. She’s had another solid outing in Europe.
Baltimore sends in the ball … it beats the traffic in the middle, with Sam Kerr getting her head on the end of it. It’s blocked on the line but Erin Cuthbert is there for the decisive touch. Not sure how much she knew about it.
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GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Paris (Cuthbert 63)
… and it’s another one after a messy bit of pinball in the area.
62 min: Reiten whips a deep cross into the area, over Chavas … but Hamano is blocked off from getting on the end of it. Chelsea have a corner …
61 min: Bronze is in the game, crossing into the middle: Chavas should collect but parries it … Baltimore’s swing of the left foot from the edge of the area flies high.
60 min: The changes keep on coming: Lucy Bronze is on, with Kaptein off.
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58 min: Bright continues to skip into the centre circle, no pressure upon her, eyeing up the through balls.
56 min: Sonia Bompastor makes three changes, replacing her frontline: Beever-Jones, Thompson and Rytting Kaneryd make way. Hamano, Kerr and Reiten enter the game.
55 min: Thompson gets the boosters on as Chelsea break … she drifts into the right channel but her shot is well wide.
53 min: Hampton is in the action, holding on as Mateo jinks down the left and tries to fire the ball across goal.
52 min: Baltimore is nearly caught out by a long ball down Paris’ right but the danger is quickly gone.
50 min: This is turning into a stroll now for Chelsea, with Walsh running the show in the middle.
That’s a brutal start for Paris, with Keira Walsh firing in a low ball across goal from the right … there’s a deflection on it but Thompson is there at the far post to tap in for her first Chelsea goal. She was electric last week and fully deserves it tonight.
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GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Paris FC (Thompson 47)
Alyssa Thompson, who made the second, has the third.
46 min: We’re back, with Paris making a change: France international Melween N’Dongala is on.
HALF-TIME: Chelsea 2-0 Paris FC
Cuthbert gets Chelsea moving down the right … the venture forward ending with Walsh firing wide. A controlled first-half display by the hosts comes to a close.
45 min: Bright has looked at such ease when driving up the field with the ball. Two minutes added on.
43 min: Chelsea have another corner … delivered by Cuthbert and met at the near post … the header from Beever-Jones rattles the underside of the crossbar. Her wait goes on.
Alyssa Thompson is the creator, skipping down the left, in to the area, before turning back to cross with her right foot. She finds Rytting Kaneryd with a stinging cross, her header from around the penalty spot looping into the top right corner. She looks surprised by her own brilliance.
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Paris FC (Rytting Kaneryd 39)
What a header!
38 min: Greboval is back up before Chelsea win a corner … with Baltimore to deliver. The inswinger is collected by Chavas, keeping her cool in the traffic.
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37 min: Beever-Jones holds the ball up well before finding Rytting Kaneryd on the right … but play is brought to a halt, with Greboval down for Paris.
34 min: That just calms Chelsea a little … they’ve not actually created all that much from open play.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Paris FC (Baltimore 31 pen)
Sandy Baltimore repeats the trick. She scores her second penalty of this Champions League campaign, sliding the ball into the right corner. Chelsea take advantage of VAR.
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Penalty to Chelsea!
There is definitely contact as Le Moguédec accidentally catches Nüsken’s heel, the pair competing for a ball dinked by Walsh into the area … and the ref says pen!
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29 min: Nüsken goes down in the area after coming into contact with Le Moguédec … there’s that dramatic VAR pause … and the referee is going to the screen!
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27 min: Thompson cuts in from the left wing … she tries to slide the ball into the area … but it’s overdone.
25 min: Beever-Jones remains in the game, trying to get on the end of a Walsh ball into the area, but she’s just out of reach at the far post.
23 min: Bright wins a free-kick, and it’s a central position … Chelsea opt against the shot, with Baltimore dinking it into the area. Up goes the offside flag.
22 min: We’re approaching the end of the first quarter and, for all of Chelsea’s dominance on the ball, they’ve not exactly sliced open this Paris backline.
20 min: Thompson makes a run in behind and plays a first-time cutback from the left … but she can’t pick out Beever-Jones, with Greboval in the way for Paris.
19 min: Chelsea continue to move it around, with Thompson, out on the left, constantly looking to cut in to the middle.
17 min: Chelsea have a corner, to be delivered by Cuthbert … the ball in is eventually worked back to Cuthbert on the left, who finds Beever-Jones in the middle: her first touch is a fine one, but her shot on the turn is met by an excellent block.
15 min: Rytting Kaneryd crosses from the right … but Deja Davis is back to clear for Paris.
14 min: Hampton very nearly ends up handling outside her area after coming to collect, with Mateo launching an ambitious appeal.
12 min: Paris are easily crowded out when they venture up the pitch.
11 min: Beever-Jones, makes an excellent run behind into the area, Walsh slides in the perfect pass … but the former miscues once again.
10 min: Charles Antaki writes in:
Even as an Arsenal fan, it’s hard not to respect and admire Millie Bright’s contribution to the England cause over the years. Fair play to her if she’s decided that she needs to reserve her energies for the WSL (though the other part of being an Arsenal fan is not to be very happy about that). It’s not that England can’t win things without her (checks notes: Euro 25) but that when she plays she has a rock- solid certainty at the back which would make any team better. Vale, Millie.
9 min: Nüsken breaks free on the right, into the area, cutting back for Beever-Jones … but the forward miscues, barely getting any power behind her effort.
8 min: Cuthbert slides a sneaky ball into the area … but there’s no blue shirt on the end of it.
6 min: Sandy Baltimore sends in a couple of crosses before Erin Cuthbert tries her luck from outside the area … her low drive is easily collected by Mylène Chavas.
5 min: Chelsea, as expected, are the ones wheeling the ball around.
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4 min: Rytting Kaneryd twists and turns out on the right before dinking a decent cross in … it’s headed out before Nüsken shoots wide from range.
3 min: Walsh loses the ball in the middle as Clara Mateo drives down the right for Paris … Bright blocks the cross and also nabs a goalkick.
1 min: Alyssa Thompson, electric out on the right alongside Ellie Carpenter last week against Twente, is operating on the left this time round.
Peeeeeeeep!
Chelsea are all blue, Paris don the whites. The hosts kick off, with Aggie Beever-Jones launching first.
Ellen White, on punditry duty, predicts a 4-0 Chelsea victory. Sonia Bompastor wants her side to replicate their display against Spurs. Let’s see what they’ve got in the locker: the players emerge from the tunnel.
On the subject of international retirements: Jess Fishlock’s illustrious Wales career will end this month.
Millie Bright remains at the heart of Chelsea’s defence but the England chapter is over.
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Having rotated heavily for last week’s match against Twente, Sonia Bompastor has opted for less tinkering this time round: Hannah Hampton is back in net, with just two changes to the side that beat Tottenham 1-0 in the league. Ellie Carpenter is missing from the squad, while Niamh Charles drops to the bench. In come Sjoeke Nüsken and Sandy Baltimore.
The teams
Chelsea: Hampton, Nüsken, Björn, Bright, Baltimore, Kaptein, Walsh, Cuthbert, Rytting Kaneryd, Beever-Jones, Thompson
Subs: Peng, Buurman, Macário, Jean-François, Reiten, Kerr, Charles, Bronze, Hamano, Potter, Sarwie
Paris FC: Chavas, Ould Hocine, Davis, Greboval, Bogaert, Picard, Korosec, Corboz, Garbino, Mateo, Le Moguédec
Subs: Marques, Azzaro, Mendonça, Scott, N’Dongala, Jedlinska, Haheim, Sissoko, Liaigre, Yerro
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Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another evening of Champions League action: Paris are in London.
Chelsea, still waiting to lift this trophy, got their campaign off to an awkward start last week, relying on a Sandy Baltimore penalty to take a point at Twente. While the WSL champions – who remain unbeaten this season – dominated on the ball and whipped in cross after cross, their final touch was off. Maybe a kickabout at Stamford Bridge, under lights, is the required tonic.
Paris FC, who came through qualifying to reach the league stage, gave up a 2-0 lead against OH Leuven to draw last week, and their brief relationship with Chelsea is not pretty: the English side won 4-0 and 4-1 when the two sides met in the 2023-24 group stage. Then again, Twente didn’t have history on their side either. Kick-off’s at 8pm BST.
