Second-half substitute Sandy Baltimore scored her first Chelsea goal to put us ahead in the 48th minute at Audi Field - and that strike was enough to secure our second pre-season win following our maiden victory over NJ/NY Gotham on Monday.

Five changes made

Bompastor made five changes from her line-up against Gotham, with goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, defenders Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan, midfielder Sjoeke Nusken and forward Maika Hamano all involved from the start.

And it was Hamano who hit the first shot off the game with Aggie Beever-Jones playing a short pass to her teammate in the box. Her effort was easily collected by a diving Manuela Zinsberger.

A superb defence-splitting pass from Wieke Kaptein in midfield then almost found Beever-Jones in the final third, but Arsenal cut the ball away from our striker's path before she could meaningfully connect with it.

It was the Blues who impressed going forward inside the opening 15 minutes, with Beever-Jones linking up well with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, before the former forced the Gunners goalkeeper to tip the ball away from a dangerous-looking cross she'd whipped in to the box.

Arsenal's first chance came when Caitlin Foord latched on to the end of a through ball through, but she could not capitalise on her run forward and hit her shot wide of the target.

After the second hydration break of the match on 30 minutes, Kyra Cooney-Cross sent in a threatening corner, but captain Millie Bright was there to bravely head the ball behind before Foord's boot could reach it.

Arsenal were gifted a chance when Musovic's loose pass in the box found Alessia Russo, but our goalkeeper recovered superbly and made a terrific stop by making her body big to deny a subsequent shot from Foord.

On the stroke of half-time, Nusken unleashed a powerful strike from long range but her effort was held by Zinsberger.

A first Blues goal for Baltimore

Inside the first three minutes of the second half, substitute Baltimore - who had entered the fray at the interval with six others - put the Blues ahead with a well-taken finish from close range after Hamano played the ball into the French winger from the edge of the six yard box.

Having made six changes at half-time - with goal scorer Baltimore, Sophie Ingle, Nathalie Bjorn, Eve Perisset, Niamh Charles and Hannah Hampton coming - Bompastor dished out minutes in the 65th minute to her remaining outfield players: Alejandra Bernabe, Charlotte Wardlaw, Lexi Potter, Lucy Watson and Myra Ramirez.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Bjorn undoubtedly kept the Blues ahead when she put her body on the line and made a goal-saving block from only a few yards out to deny Laura Weinroither.

Hampton made a comfortable stop soon after when she got down to collect Russo's tame strike from inside the box, before the Arsenal striker tried to test the Chelsea goalkeeper but this time her effort sailed way over the bar.

In the dying minutes, Wardlaw did well to deflect a Katie McCabe strike behind from a corner, and the Blues cleared their lines from the resulting set piece.

There was another superb block from the Blues, this time from Charles as she blocked another Russo close-range effort.

What next

The Blues travel back to England on Monday to begin preparing for our next pre-season friendly against Feyenoord at Kingsmeadow on 7 September.

The Teams

Chelsea: Musovic (Hampton 46), Lawrence (Charles 46), Bright (Bjorn 46), Buchanan (Wardlaw 65), Bronze (Perisset 46), Nusken (Ingle 46), Kaptein (Potter 65) Reiten (Bernabe 65), Rytting Kaneryd (Baltimore 46), Hamano (Watson 65), Beever-Jones (Ramirez 65)

Unused substitutes: Cox

Arsenal: Zinsberger, Williamson (Reid 61), Catley (Codina 61), McCabe, Wienroither, Little, Cooney-Cross (Walti 78), Kafaji (Manuum 61), Kuhl (Lia 87), Russo, Foord (Caldentey 61)

Unused substitutes: Williams, Fox, Agyemang, Harbert, Earl

Attendance: 17,130