The Blues marked their return to action for the first time in 2025 with a comfortable 4-0 win against Charlton Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Kingsmeadow.

After dominating on home turf in Kingston, the Blues finally took the lead after 40 minutes through a Mayra Ramirez header which marked our maiden goal of 2025 and the forward's sixth goal of the season in all competitions.

The Blues were two goals to the good at half-time as our top goal scorer thus far in the campaign, Guro Reiten, doubled our advantage from the penalty spot three minutes into injury time.

And it was 3-0 only three minutes into the second half thanks to half-time substitute Aggie Beever-Jones, who was making her 50th appearance for the club and marked the impressive milestone by netting her sixth goal of the season.

Our fourth goal arrived in the 73rd minute and it was another half-time substitute who found their name on the scoresheet. Niamh Charles rounded off a well-worked team move as she slotted the ball into the bottom corner for her first of the campaign.

The victory means our FA Cup campaign gets underway in the best possible fashion, whilst we extend our unbeaten run across all competitions to 17 matches, with 16 of those games resulting in wins.

James returns as changes made

Sonia Bompastor made four changes from our last encounter of 2024 - a win against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League - with Sandy Baltimore, Oriane Jean-Francois, Catarina Macario and Lauren James, who had not played since mid-October due to injury, all named in the starting XI.

Following early pressure from the home side, it was the visitors who looked to strike first on the counterattack. The ball was played out to the right flank to Karin Muya who saw a shot comfortably gathered by goalkeeper Hampton.

The first Blues opportunity fell to Nathalie Bjorn. A corner was sent into the box and dropped to the feet of the Swedish defender, scooping a shot goalwards but unfortunately, she directed it over the bar.

At the other end, the Addicks fashioned another opportunity on the break from said corner. From a similar position from her first effort, Muya saw another shot collected by Hampton, before the Blues custodian was called into action to deny a long-range Kayleigh Barton strike.

A delightful cross from James almost saw the No.10 mark her return with an assist. She whipped in a dangerous-looking cross into the area which was just too high for Ramirez, while Reiten could not make a powerful connection with the ball only a few yards out from goal.

James then looked to break the deadlock as she unleashed a strike from distance 15 minutes into the match, but her effort was held by visiting goalkeeper Jessica Gray.

And Gray soon denied James who looked like a certain opener. Lucy Bronze delivered an inviting cross into the box which found the forward who then did incredibly well to adjust her body to get the shot away, forcing the Charlton goalkeeper into a low-diving save.

The Charlton goalkeeper made another fine stop to deny Bompastor's side the lead. Again, Bronze sent in another cross from the same area down the right flank, this time finding Ramirez who had her effort from point-blank range saved by Gray.

The Blues continued to apply pressure as the first half came to a close with James having another opportunity, but this time, her strike from distance soar over the bar.

With five minutes left in the first half, another chance came and went for the home side, and on this occasion, it fell to Erin Cuthbert. The midfielder did well to work her way into the box before unleashing a shot wide of the target.

After all those opportunities, the opener did arrive before the first half ended. Another Bronze cross from the right, albeit deflected, was met by the head of Ramirez only a few yards out from goal and it dropped over the line for 1-0.

It should have been 2-0 only moments later and the Colombian went so close to her brace, but on this occasion, she saw her header pushed over the bar by an outstretched Gray.

But, there was indeed time for a second goal as the Blues were awarded a penalty in injury time after Ramirez was brought down in the box. Reiten stepped up for the spot-kick, and like she has done several times this season, dispatched it into the bottom corner to extend our lead.

Two-goal advantage extended

With the Blues 2-0 up, Bompastor made three changes at half-time with Niamh Charles, Wieke Kaptein and Aggie Beever-Jones, who came on for her 50th Chelsea appearance, in place of Baltimore, Macario and James.

And it was almost an instant impact from Beever-Jones on her milestone as she netted our third goal in the 48th minute. The forward was teed up from a perfectly weighted through pass from Ramirez, leaving her unmarked and free to slot the ball into the back of the net.

After going 3-0 up, our next best opportunity came from a free-kick. Substitute Maika Hamano stepped up to take the set-piece from almost 25 yards out and did well to send her low drive goalwards inside a crowded box, but it trailed just wide of the post.

A deceiving cross, which ended up being a shot on goal, from Charlton substitute Sophie O'Rourke called Hampton into action with 20 minutes left to go and the Blues goalkeeper was alert to gather the ball at her near post.

Moments later, the Blues went up the other end and added a fourth. A delightfully worked move from the Blues saw them move the ball from the right flank to the left, where Charles was waiting and she made no mistake in burying it into the bottom corner at the far post.

The Blues were still looking to add to our advantage in the dying stages as both Beever-Jones and Charles came close to getting a brace. The former was denied from close range before goalkeeper Gray made a diving stop to prevent a fifth Chelsea goal from distance.

Despite the convincing victory, the match ended on a dampener as teenage midfielder Kaptein had to be stretchered off due to injury in added time.

What it means

The win against Charlton means Bompastor's side are in the hat for Monday night's FA Cup fifth-round draw which will take place at 6.30pm, which will be streamed live on YouTube.

What next

The Blues return to action next weekend for our first Women's Super League match of 2025 when we make the trip to West Ham United.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton; Bronze, Bjorn, Bright, Baltimore (Charles 46), Cuthbert (Nusken 55), Jean-Francois, Reiten, James (Beever-Jones 46), Macario (Kaptein 46), Ramirez (Hamano 56)
Unused substitutes: Musovic, Perisset, Lawrence, Bernabe
Scorers: Ramirez 40, Reiten 45+3, Beever-Jones 48, Charles 73

Charlton Athletic: Gray; Pearse, Skeels, N'Dow, Newsham, Hutton (O'Rourke 63), Filis (Chime 90), Bradley, Muya (Bashford 76), Brazil (Siber 76), Barton (Primus 63)
Unused substitutes: Whitehouse, Mitchell
Booked: O'Rourke 90+2