Chelsea Beats Twente, Tops Women’s Champions League Group B

Chelsea continued their perfect start to the season by defeating Dutch side Twente, securing a three-point lead at the top of Women’s Champions League Group B. Aggie Beever-Jones opened the scoring just seven minutes into the match, capitalizing on a pass from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and delivering a deflected 25-yard strike into the net. Chelsea quickly doubled their lead in the 18th minute when Maika Hamano’s long-range lob caught Twente goalkeeper Olivia Clark off her line, leaving her unable to recover.

Guro Reiten then added Chelsea’s third goal with a well-taken penalty after Twente’s Lieske Carleer fouled fellow substitute Mayra Ramirez. The hosts managed to pull one back in the 68th minute when Nikee van Dijk connected with a pass from Ella Peddemors and shot past Zecira Musovic but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome. Under the new leadership of Sonia Bompastor, who replaced Emma Hayes after she took over the U.S. women’s national team, Chelsea has enjoyed a strong start this campaign.

Bompastor has led the team to victories in all three of her Women’s Super League games and both Champions League matches. In preparation for their upcoming WSL home game against Tottenham, Bompastor made seven changes to the starting lineup. A late alteration saw Lauren James replaced by Rytting Kaneryd, raising concerns for England manager Sarina Wiegman, who attended the match and hopes James’s issue is not serious as the Lionesses prepare for friendlies against Germany and South Africa later this month.

Beever-Jones impressed throughout the match, consistently threatening Twente’s defense. Chelsea will next compete in the Champions League on November 13, facing Celtic, who currently sit bottom of the group after a 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid.