Chelsea 4 – 0 Crystal Palace
By Merryn Dyson (24/04/25)
Above: Chelsea’s Catarina Macario shoots. Photo: Chelsea WFC
Chelsea continued their successful Women’s Super League run as they defeated Crystal Palace 4-0 at Kingsmeadow Stadium.
Another victory in their unbeaten run means they eagerly tread closer to securing another WSL title; their first under new manager Sonia Bompastor.
Following their 4-1 defeat against Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final, Chelsea began the game looking to correct their previous mistakes, bringing the fight and hunger to every challenge on the pitch.
Immediately, they held on to the ball, which allowed them to have control of the game. This is something they are used to doing, passing and interlinking play between the field looking for an outlook to the wingers or to be played through on goal.
Although dominant in posession (70%), there were questions to be considered about their ruthlessness in front of goal.
They were disappointing in the final third of the pitch, with a lack of execution in that final pass, missing 26 out of 30 shots. It is perhaps something to focus on before playing Barcelona again, against whom Chelsea will need to score every chance they get to have any hope of progressing.
A player that could definitely help Chelsea reach another European final is Catarina Macario. After her performance against Palace, it would be a shock to see Bompastor not select her against the Catalan giants.
She was the Blues’ main playmaker: repeatedly positioning herself free on the edge of the area, ready to participate in a cutback. This was first utilised against Palace in the 22nd minute, just under two minutes after the 1-0 lead from Guro Reiten’s penalty kick.
The ball was worked progressively up from the defensive unit to Baltimore, who drove into the bundle of space created due to the oppositions defence’s positional mistake. She crossed low into the clear pathway of Macario’s feet – from then on it was inevitable that the ball would end up in the bottom left hand corner of the net.
Macario was also very influential for the Blues via her energetic work rate off the ball, enabling her to get into great positions. She continuously dropped deeper to collect the ball, acting as a centre defensive midfield at times.
She interlinked between players, creating rhythm through passing patterns and maintaining possession. She helped the defence recycle the ball whilst also allowing Chelsea to break out to drive the team up field.
Macario’s set pieces were a also dangerous threat throughout. She executed one towards the 50th minute mark where Macario scored a freekick. Later, she delivers a cross directed to Lucy Bronze, who headers it down to Mia Fishel, who scored her first goal back after going through her ACL recovery.
Meanwhile from a Crystal Palace point of view, it was a struggle for the Eagles. It’s looking increasingly more likely that they’ll see themselves back in the Championship next season.
Chelsea found themselves with a lot of space, something Palace didn’t prevent. There was a lack of pressure as they failed to close down players, leading to their downfall as they conceded four.
For Chelsea, all eyes turn to Sunday. Barcelona will be a very different game compared to Palace, and it will be interesting to see if Macario can make the difference against the Spanish team.
TEAMS: CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Hampton, Lawrence, Girma, Bright (Captain), Charles, Francois, Nüsken, Baltimore, Macario, Reiten, Beever-Jones. Substitutes: Bronze, Fishel (64’), Rytting Kaneryd, Hamano, Mpomé.
Scorers: Reiten (22’), Macario (24’),(49’)
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): Yanez, Woodham, Swaby (Captain), Holan, Sharpe, Cato,
Arthur, Gejl, Stengel, Weerden. Substitutes: Green, Öling , Larkin, Hughes, Blanchard.
Referee: Grace Lowe
Attendance: TBC
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