Chelsea Women knew they’d be in for a tough challenge against a Brighton side that invested a lot of resources to turn themselves into a top-four Women’s Super League side. The opposition at Kingsmeadow showed their cards from the get-go, winning a quick corner to bring some of their heat to Hannah Hampton’s box.
We had to respond in kind and fight to find the early lead, so we didn’t fall into the trap of a “bouncy” match with the ball ping-ponging between each half of the pitch. The Blues pushed forward and got quite close to scoring in the first five minutes of the game, first via Sjoeke Nüsken and then with Millie Bright narrowly missing the target inside the small box.
Brighton wouldn’t be kept quiet, pushing their lines high to try to win balls against Chelsea’s defence. In the opportunities they got, Jelena Cankovic and Nikita Parris were the ones leading the shooting charge against our goal.
The Blues held strong and kept Brighton away as much as they could, although Hampton had to make a couple of saves to kept them at bay. That work paid in dividends when Nüsken finally got the opening goal for us.
The Seagulls wanted to answer immediately, and they almost did — forcing another great intervention from Hampton. A few minutes after that, another mistake near their box let Aggie Beever-Jones double our lead over the visitors.
But while our attack was keeping up the pace, defence — as it’s often been the case this season — wasn’t really covering themselves in glory. They let Parris easily keep the ball and infiltrate the area, before she assisted Cankovic for a goal right before the end of the first half.
Returning from the tunnels, Chelsea knew they couldn’t rely on a one-goal lead against a team as strong as this current Brighton. They came out pushing for a goal from kick-off, and they got it via Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.
It was great getting a third goal so early into the second half. But this did lead to Chelsea getting a bit too lax, and Brighton pushed up their lines in response. As a result, Hampton saw herself in a trap and gave the ball away to Kiko Seike, who scored the Seagulls’ second goal at Kingsmeadow.
Chelsea got (expectedly) desperate, and Mayra Ramírez was finally introduced to the pitch in response. She did her best to help the team out of a troublesome situation, as did Catarina Macario and Niamh Charles, the latter returning to the pitch after three months of absence due to a shoulder injury.
As Seike nearly netted a brace to tie the game at 3-3, Chelsea’s nerves were showing. Luckily for us Brighton weren’t at their best in defence at this point, and they allowed Nüsken to score her second goal today with a corner kick taken by Macario.
Carefree!
* Mayra Ramírez on the bench, with Aggie Beever-Jones leading the attacking charge.
* Brighton certainly aren’t kidding around. Goals aside, strong defence and midfield play from them in the first half.
* That Nikita Parris assist was ridiculous. It needs to be called out for the way it happened. You have to wonder what needs to be done to this defence to make it so the attack always need to carry them out of trouble.
* Niamh Charles is back!
* Their second goal was just as bad, if not worse. If Bompastor is set on just relying on attacking player talent to win matches, she’s in for a rough ride as teams like Brighton get better and better.
* Thank the heavens for Sjoeke Nüsken!
* Next up: FC Twente at home for the Women’s [Champions League](https://www.sbnation.com/champions-league).
* KTBFFH!