Chelsea beat Roma 2-0 on Wednesday to join Arsenal and Lyon at the top of the Women’s Champions League. Ellie Carpenter and Kadeisha Buchanan scored the goals. Coach Sonia Bompastor said, "It's important for us in these games to be able to be clinical and ruthless as early as possible."
Ellie Carpenter and Kadeisha Buchanan secured Chelsea's second win, while Alessia Russo and Vicki Becho struck hat-tricks for Arsenal and Lyon, respectively; Bayern Munich recovered from two goals down to draw with Real Madrid.
Goals from Ellie Carpenter and Kadeisha Buchanan were enough to give Chelsea its second win in this season's Women's Champions League on Wednesday to join Arsenal and Lyon at the top of the table.
Bayern Munich came from two goals down to draw with Real Madrid while Servette thrashed OH Leuven 5-1.
Chelsea, which reached the final in 2020-21, opened its campaign with a win and a draw despite scoring just once in its first two games.
It looked nailed on for another win in the first half at Plough Lane as it dominated the game without getting a goal.
That changed in the 51st minute when Wieke Kaptein cut the ball back for substitute Carpenter, making her 50th Champions League appearance, who slid the ball under the goalkeeper Rachele Baldi.
Melvine Malard missed a golden chance to put the game to bed, but Buchanan made it 2-0 a minute from time, heading Kaptein's cross into the Roma net.
"I'm pleased with the fact we scored really early in the second half. We could probably have killed the game a little bit earlier," said Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor.
"In these kinds of matches, if you don't kill it off, you just leave the hope for the opponent. When that's the case, they have a lot of energy and confidence.
"It's important for us in these games to be able to be clinical and ruthless as early as possible.
"But we find different ways to impose ourselves in the game and to score goals. So it's good."
Chelsea moves to seven points after matchday three, behind Lyon and Arsenal on goal difference. Champion Barcelona, which has six points after winning both of its opening games, will return to the top if it beats HB Koge in Denmark on Thursday.
Becho, Russo hat-tricks
Marie-Antoinette Katoto scored the first two before Vicki Becho chimed in with a hat-trick off the bench in eight-time winner Lyon's 5-0 home thrashing of Inter Milan.
Arsenal got its campaign up and running with a 3-0 win over Benfica, with Alessia Russo netting a hat-trick to become the highest-scoring English player in European football with 23 goals.
"I love playing in the Champions League, and I love scoring goals," Russo told UEFA.
"It was really good to get the win. To score a hat-trick is really special.
"We knew they were going to be tough. We were patient. It was a good night, lots of attacking football, and really nice to get the win."
There was a moment's silence before kick-off at the Sportpark Unterhaching in Munich as a mark of respect after at least 68 people were killed in a train crash near Madrid earlier on Wednesday.
Real Madrid, which had its players wearing black armbands, took an early lead when Athenea found the net in the seventh minute.
Former Bayern forward Lineth Beerensteyn doubled the lead 15 minutes later before her old team fought back with an Edna Imade header just after the half-hour.
Momoko Tanikawa equalised in the 52nd minute with a curling shot from the edge of the box, and it finished 2-2.
The Swiss side Servette dispatched Belgium's Leuven 5-1, with Paola Hernandez and Gloria Marinelli scoring two goals each.