Goals from young forwards Aggie Beaver-Jones and Mika Hamano showed just how bright the future is for Chelsea, who continued their season-long winning streak with a 3-1 defeat of FC Twente under new coach Sonia Bombaster.
The victory leaves the Blues top of Champions League Group B, three points ahead of rivals Twente and second-placed Real Madrid, while Celtic bring up the rear in their first European adventure.
Like last week's 3-2 loss to Real Madrid, there will be concern about the away team's struggles in defense, but as long as they keep winning, they will have time to address those issues.
Few coaches can field a starting eleven with eight changes and expect fluidity between players to be maintained, but Chelsea's team is different. During Emma Hayes' tenure, the team managed to maintain its competitive edge despite the changes, and that legacy lives on. Hayes worked hard last season to get minutes into the legs of young players like Hamano and Beaver-Jones.
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A 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Women's Champions League left Celtic devastated. It was a bittersweet night for Celtic before late goals from Madrid's Scotland international Caroline Weir, Signe Brune, Caroline Muller and Linda Caicedo.
The Spanish team won Group B after losing their first game against Chelsea, while Celtic lost both games.
After Weir's first goal, Celtic maintained constant pressure until the 72nd minute, when Brune headed in a cross from Eva Navarro. Muller made it three with a chip in 10 minutes and Caicedo converted a late penalty to complete the rout. Public address media
That consolidation of talent has continued and Bompastor has mixed the summer signings very well. On paper, this is a weak team, much weaker than the one that struggled to beat Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday. Not Lauren James, although she was named on the team sheet and took part in training, while Millie Bright, Myra Ramirez, Lucy Brons, Erin Cuthbert and Crowe Raiden were named on the bench. Still, in Enschede the blues dominated. They had 78% possession in the first 10 minutes and it dropped to 60% at halftime.
Chelsea rested their best players after a 2-0 win over Celtic in their opening group game and a 1-1 draw with Excelsior at the weekend. Stay fresh for the visit of Chelsea – Beaver-Jones' great shot deflected slightly past goalkeeper Olivia Clarke.
Rightly so, the 21-year-old showed the breadth of her skills with a long-range strike in front of Sarina Wickman, who named her as a striker in her team for both of England's friendlies in October and was in the stands in her home country . .
Beaver-Jones and Hamano were at the center of Chelsea's forward play, the former sending an acrobatic kick into the empty stands behind the Twente goal, the latter receiving from Ashley Lawrence before breaking free from Danik van Ginkel.
Hamano would make no mistake with Chelsea's second century, the Japan international pulling Clarke off his line after the Blues had won possession inside the opposition's half.
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Twente coach Joren Baut said before the start of the match: “We are the underdogs, it's that simple, but that doesn't mean we don't have a chance.”
The home team lived up to their underdog status but had their chances: Amanda Andradottir fired over and Nicky van Dijk forced a clever save from Jezira Musovic to give them hope.
Allowing teams to relax in games they have dominated has been a feature of Chelsea's performances under Bombaster to date, and in Holland it was no exception. The home side were let down by their poor technical quality, with the final ball lacking some promising breaks, and Andratóttir in particular was brilliant, allowing Chelsea to comfortably escape any embarrassment. Light pressure from Twente enlivened the crowd as Chelsea recovered from a breakaway and Beaver-Jones saw substitute Ramires brought down in the area by Lieske Carlier. Fellow substitute Raiden coolly converted the penalty to extend the visiting team's lead.
Five minutes after Van Dijk's first, Nathalie Bjorn was overtaken by Van Dijk, who overtook Musovic as the home fans' celebrations were boisterous and noisy.
There were still some bright moments for the Dutch team, but it wasn't going to be much of a test for Chelsea. Twente will know that these games against the Blues are unlikely to be places where they can pick up points in the group. It's another win, another learning opportunity for Bomapastor's team and another chance to analyze defensive lapses that could prove costly later in the game.
