Making her first start of the season, Aggie Beever-Jones got off the mark as she netted our opener in the 38th minute.

And after creating but not taking several further chances in the first half, the Blues made the most of our opportunities in the second period with six goals scored.

Our advantage was doubled by a sweet strike from Lucy Bronze before last season's top goal scorer Lauren James netted our third - and her first this campaign - in the 58th minute.

There was a brace struck by Guro Reiten, with goals in the 74th and 90th minute, a close-range finish from a corner from Nathalie Bjorn, and a stoppage-time strike from Catarina Macario rounded off an impressive victory.

Chances aplenty

Head coach Sonia Bompastor made three changes to her side at Selhurst Park, with Bjorn, James and Beever-Jones making their first starts of the new campaign.

It was our No.10 who registered the first chance of the contest, which arrived inside the first minute, but James saw her effort blocked and then collected by Palace goalkeeper Shae Yanez.

The hosts' first opportunity also came early on when summer signing Katie Stengel burst down the flank before firing toward goal. However, her attempt failed to trouble Hannah Hampton.

Palace sat deep for much of the opening 45 minutes but Chelsea did regularly fashion chances. Beever-Jones did well to get a shot away from a tight angle which was eventually cleared before James hit a long-range strike over the bar.

The England international did put the ball in the net after ten minutes but as her shot was unleashed, referee Emily Heaslip blew her whistle due to a head injury sustained in the build-up to James' strike.

Having opened her account in last week's win over Aston Villa, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd looked to net her second goal in as many games when she cut inside the Palace area, but the winger's left-footed shot was denied by the palms of Yanez.

Rytting Kaneryd looked to turn provider for Beever-Jones moments later as she sent a teasing cross into the box which the Chelsea Academy graduate made contact with but could not steer beyond Yanez.

Chelsea were in control but a rare misplaced pass from Hannah Hampton did enable Indiah-Paige Riley to break forward and release an effort toward the far post. Fortunately, the Blues stopper produced a fine stop.

James came close again soon after with a shot across goal that narrowly fizzed past the post and a strike from distance from Bronze sailed over the bar without troubling Yanez.

Yet just as it appeared Palace were beginning to build confidence and progress forward, the Blues broke the deadlock.

Rytting Kaneryd burst down the right flank with pace after receiving a perfectly weighted pass from Sjoeke Nusken. The former cut the ball back to Beever-Jones, who made no mistake slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Palace sought an equaliser before the first half was up and went close twice, but Annabel Blanchard's close-range effort flashed wide of the post before Hampton was on hand to block a Stengel strike with her feet.

Goals galore

It took only three minutes of the second half to double our lead – and the goal was a fantastic first in Chelsea colours from Bronze.

A cross from Ashley Lawrence was cleared toward the edge of the box and Bronze was able to run onto the ball and guide a side-footed shot into the top corner of Yanez’s net.

With a two-goal advantage established, Bompastor turned to her bench. Midfielder Wieke Kaptein was introduced for her Chelsea debut in place of Erin Cuthbert while Rytting Kaneryd was replaced by Mayra Ramirez.

And it was our Colombian international who created our third goal moments after stepping onto the pitch. Good work from Beever-Jones down the right enabled Ramirez to break into the box, the slid the ball across goal and James was on hand to finish.

Bompastor made further changes after goal number three, with Eve Perisset introduced for Bronze and Lawrence making way for Sandy Baltimore just after the hour mark.

An acrobatic effort from Stengel – who was almost on the ground as she hit the strike – came close to pulling a goal back for the hosts but the American saw her attempt dropped the wrong side of the post.

That proved as good as it got for Palace as Bompastor’s side accelerated in the final 20 minutes of the contest and added four more goals to their tally.

Macario entered the fray, replacing Nusken in the 71st minute, and she soon linked up well with Kaptein, who cut the ball back to Reiten 12 yards from goal and the Norwegian hit a composed strike into the bottom corner.

Bjorn netted goal number five when she connected with a corner whipped in by Macario at the back post – and the Palace backline was noticeably tiring in the final minutes of the match.

Reiten added her second as she guided a low right-footed shot into the far corner of Yanez’s net and moments before the final whistle was blown, Macario struck her first goal of the campaign.

The American broke forward and guided the ball into the ball of Ramirez, whose shot across goal was well saved by Yanez. Yet the ball fell into the path of Macario who fired the rebound home to complete our rout.

What it means

The Blues have picked up six points from a possible six, with two clean sheets kept and eight goals scored over our opening two matches of the league campaign.

What next

We return to Kingsmeadow next Sunday for our second home game of the season to host Manchester United.

The teams

Crystal Palace: Yanez, Veje, Gibbons, Cato, Everett, Blanchard (Weerden 90+1), Green (Larkin 79), Riley (Sharpe 53), Gejl, Woodham, Stengel (Pritchard 90+1)
Unused substitutes: Majasaari, Arthur, Atkinson
Booked: Blanchard 3

Chelsea: Hampton; Bronze (Perisset 64), Bright, Bjorn, Lawrence (Baltimore 64), Cuthbert (Kaptein 54), Nusken (Macario 71), Reiten, Rytting Kaneyrd (Ramirez 54), James, Beever-Jones
Unused substitutes: Musovic, Buchanan, Mpome, Hamano
Goals: Beever-Jones 38, Bronze 48, James 58, Reiten 74 and 90, Bjorn 78, Macario 90+5
Booked: James 14