At the Red Bull Arena, Rytting Kaneryd netted a brace inside the opening 15 minutes, before Beever-Jones added a third in the 26th minute. It was 3-1 just after the half-hour mark with former Chelsea defender Jess Carter getting on the scoresheet for Gotham.

Although the second half saw no goals, it proved to be a valuable 45 minutes for Bompastor as she shared the minutes around the squad with each of her outfield players and two goalkeepers gaining minutes over the course of the win in New Jersey.

First minutes in Blue from the start for duo

Head coach Bompastor pitched summer signing Lucy Bronze in from the start, as the England international bagged her first minutes in Chelsea blue.

Teenage midfielder Wieke Kaptein, who returned to the club this summer after spending last season in loan in her native Netherlands, was also named in the XI for her maiden outing as a Blue.

An early lead

The first goal of the Bompastor era was scored in the seventh minute when midfielder Erin Cuthbert played a defence-splitting pass through to Rytting Kaneryd, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner from inside the box, aided by a deflection off the Gotham goalkeeper.

And it was soon 2-0 and a brace for our Swedish winger in the 15th minute.

It was Rytting Kaneryd that started the move, winning the ball back in midfield before finding Beever-Jones. The England international burst into the box, cutting the ball back to our goal scorer and leaving her with a cool-as-you-like finish from 12 yards out.

After such a positive start, Bompastor was forced into making her first change after only 21 minutes when Sophie Ingle replaced Cuthbert in midfielder after the Scottish midfielder picked up a knock.

Rytting Kaneryd turned provider, as Beever-Jones became the finisher in the 26th minute as she bagged our third after she latched on to a ball sent over the top and netted with another deflected effort from Gotham goalkeeper Cassie Miler.

The hosts got a goal back in the 31st minute when former Chelsea defender Carter got on the end of a Gotham corner and tapped the ball home at the back post.

A fingertip save and comfortable stop from Blues goalkeeper Hannah Hampton kept the score at 3-1 going into the break, as she pushed Yazmeen Ryan's free-kick from the right-hand side of the box over the bar before collecting McCall Zerboni's curling effort.

Changes aplenty for the second half

There were five changes made for the second half, with Zecira Musovic, Maika Hamano, Eve Perisset, Ashley Lawrence and Sandy Baltimore - who was featuring for the first time since signing from PSG in the summer - all on.

In amongst a crowded box, Musovic got her first taste of the action when she made a superb stop in the 57th minute to deny a powerful strike on the edge of the area from Gotham skipper Zerboni.

The hosts looked to grab a second when Bruninha whipped in a dangerous looking free-kick from the right flank, but it was deflected beyond for a corner by Bronze, who was now playing at centre-back and Chelsea cleared their lines after a threatening wave of attack from Gotham.

Following those chances, there were more substitutions from the Blues as Alejandra Bernabe and Lexi Potter came on for their first minutes in a Chelsea shirt, while defender Kadeisha Buchanan also entered the field.

Minutes later there were two more Blues substitutions as youngsters Charlotte Wardlaw and Lucy Watson came on for the remaining 18 minutes, meaning Bompastor had now utilised all of her outfield players throughout the match.

With 10 minutes remaining, Watson hit our best effort of the second half when she fired the ball just wide from close-range after the ball dropped to her feet following a corner whipped in by Baltimore.

In the dying stages, Katie Stengel's glancing header from a corner almost pulled another goal back for Gotham but her effort fell just wide, as the Blues secured a 3-1 victory to kick off their pre-season.

What next

Focus now turns to preparing for our second and final match of our USA Tour: a Stateside London derby against Arsenal in Washington DC on Sunday.

The Teams

NJ/NY Gotham: Miller (Betos 46) (Berger 66), Freeman (Torres 46), Carter, Lopez (Baxter 70), Zerboni (O'Hara 85), Martin, Sheehan (Flores 46), Bruninha, Stevens (Esther 46), Ryan, Stengel

Booked: Martin 65, Carter 71

Chelsea: Hampton (Musovic 46), Bronze (Wardlaw 72), Bright (Buchanan 66), Bjorn (Perisset 46), Charles (Bernabe 66), Cuthbert (Ingle 21), Kaptein (Potter 66), Reiten (Baltimore 46), James (Hamano 46), Kaneryd (Lawrence 46), Beever-Jones (Watson 72)

Unused substitutes: Cox

Booked: Bright 45+3, Beever-Jones 63