Under a pristine London sunset, Chelsea Women head off to Portugal for pre-season training camp with a triumph under its belt. It was a contest defined by world-class goals that saw the west Londoners capture the last laugh through a late finish by youngster Aggie Beever-Jones.
The defending Serie A champions, AS Roma took the lead twice. Neither time it was able to hold on to it. Guro Reiten equalized with a rocket off her left foot followed by Lauren James who did not skip a beat coming back from her standout World Cup. The English attacker intelligently chipped the goalkeeper from quite a ways out after receiving a crisp pass from Sophia Ingle that found its way between two defenders.
Even with a few key absentees from the team including Sam Kerr, Millie Bright, and Erin Cuthbert, Emma Hayes named an extremely strong starting XI. The English manager made nine substitutions throughout the match, leaving Ingle, and Canadian Kadeisha Buchanan on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.
First game, first win for these Blues! 🔵#CFCW pic.twitter.com/CySubFW0FG
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) September 3, 2023
One of the storylines heading into the contest was the experiment with VAR in women’s football in England for the first time at a Women’s Super League venue. The technology was needed in the second half as a handball by the Italians was first ruled a penalty before the call changed into a free kick just outside the box. The first time it was used in the country was back in May for the 2023 Women’s FA Cup Final when Kerr’s goal proved to be the difference against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.
It was sloppy at times, but overall the English outfit left onlookers with plenty think about with this being the last friendly match before Tottenham Hotspur heads to Stamford Bridge for opening day. Here are three things to discuss as the Blues register a triumph less than a month before the kick-off to the WSL campaign.