Chelsea Women marked International Women’s Day by brushing Brighton & Hove Albion Women aside in a comfortable 3-1 victory, with the only negative for the Blues being a late consolation goal which denied us the winning margin our performance had warranted.

In truth there was only really one team in it at Kingsmeadow, as Brighton were unable to deal with our relentless pressing and slick forward play right from the start, as shown when Sam Kerr was brought down for a penalty just after the 10-minute mark.

Guro Reiten, who was excellent throughout, made no mistake by slotting the spot-kick calmly into the bottom corner to set us on our way.

Brighton never recovered from there, as we took a stranglehold on the game, and midway through the first half Jess Carter swept home a loose ball from close range following Reiten’s corner to make it 2-0.

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd effectively sealed the three points when she tapped in after Kerr had been set free by Reiten, and Danielle Carter's late goal for Brighton did little to disguise the dominance Chelsea had displayed as we bounced straight back from our defeat in the Continental League Cup final.

That leaves us one point behind WSL leaders Manchester United, who we face in our next match, with a game in hand still to come.

The selection

Emma Hayes made seven changes to her team following Sunday’s Continental League Cup final defeat. That included three of her back four, with Maren Mjelde, Kadeisha Buchanan and Jess Carter all coming into the side, ahead of Zecira Musovic who replaced Ann-Katrin Berger as goalkeeper.

Melanie Leupolz anchored the midfield, in place of Sophie Ingle, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Jessie Fleming were introduced alongside Guro Reiten and Jelena Cankovic in front of her, with Sam Kerr continuing to lead the line in attack.

Wasting no time

The tone was set right from the opening, as Chelsea started to exert some early pressure on Brighton. Even in the first few minutes, the visitors struggled to hold on to the ball or escape their own half.

It wasn’t long before the first sight of goal arrived, as Cankovic did well to outmuscle the defence and knock a cross down to Kerr on the edge of the box, but it was bouncing awkwardly and the striker couldn’t get over the ball. The same pair nearly combined again immediately, this time Cankovic scooping a delightful pass over the back line, but Kerr was offside.

Brighton were shaking already. Cankovic and Rytting Kaneryd linked up with a nice one-two but the latter’s dangerous pass across goal was hacked clear from almost under the crossbar, and then Carter fired wide at the back post from the resulting corner, with a chance that probably should have given Chelsea the lead.

It didn’t take long for the pressure to tell, as after 10 minutes the Blues were awarded a penalty. Cankovic’s half-cleared high ball was headed back towards the box by Leupolz and broke through towards Kerr. It looked as though the Australian might have been coming back from an offside position, but when she was hacked down while trying to reach the ball the referee pointed straight to the spot.

Offside or not, Reiten wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to give us an early lead from 12 yards, and calmly stroked the ball into the bottom left corner, beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

Not letting up

There was no question of Chelsea being content with a one-goal lead, though, getting right back into the same rhythm, pinning Brighton back, probing for more chances with purpose and winning possession straight back high up the pitch almost as soon as we lost it.

It was nearly two inside 20 minutes, and what a goal it would have been! Mjelde picked up the ball outside the box and, after feeding it forward to Reiten, continued her run into the box to receive a clever return pass. The Norwegian then dropped a shoulder and side-stepped a defender before attempting to curl a shot into the bottom corner, but a deflection prevented a brilliant goal.

It was only a minute or two before we did extend our lead, though. It came from a Reiten corner aimed at the near post. Buchanan tried to head towards goal and when it was blocked the ball dropped on the corner of the six-yard box, where Carter reacted quickest to lash in through the bodies.

2-0 to Chelsea and the visitors from the South Coast were looking all at sea, having no answer to the relentless Chelsea onslaught. It was all the Seagulls could manage to try and defend their penalty area and clear their lines, although even that was proving a struggle.

The Blues were starting to turn on the style too, being denied a certain Goal of the Season contender by the woodwork. Rytting Kaneryd left her marker for dead with a brilliant flick through the defender's legs before driving towards the box with three Brighton players in pursuit. She rolled the ball into the path of Cankovic, who wrong-footed the keeper by scooping a chipped finish to the near post, only to see it come back off the crossbar.

Kerr then did have the ball in the back of the net, lifting a smart first-time finish over the goalkeeper after latching on to Fleming’s through-pass, but this time the offside flag did go up against the Australian.

Brighton managed to catch their breath slightly before half-time, but were probably relieved to go in at the break only trailing by two goals, having had no answer to the speed and energy with which Chelsea were moving the ball and pushing forward.

Keeping control

If Brighton were hoping Chelsea might let off the gas in the second half, given our lead, they were left disappointed, as we picked up right where we’d left off, Cankovic producing a lovely bit of skill to cut inside from the left and trying her luck from a tight angle, although the Brighton keeper Lydia Williams was able to comfortably gather the ball at her near post.

The visitors did briefly get into the game for a spell in the second half, but were unable to do anything with it and it didn’t last long, with the Seagulls soon back under pressure at the back as goalkeeper Williams was fortunate to get away with a wild swing as they tried to deal with a Fleming through-pass, the ball spinning behind for a corner.

We never quite removed Brighton’s threat, though, and Elisabeth Terland struck the crossbar with a swivel and half-volley from the corner of our penalty area, which drew gasps from the crowd, but it looked like Musovic might have had it covered anyway.

At the other end, it took an impressive save from the goalkeeper to prevent Kerr getting her name on the score sheet, when Reiten’s great touch took her beyond the defence and she slid a ball towards the striker on the penalty spot, but Williams was quick off her line and it cannoned off the keeper and over the bar.

Game over

The Australian made amends when we did extend our lead further, though, unselfishly providing Rytting Kaneryd with her first Chelsea goal. Reiten deserves plenty of credit, too, finding Kerr beyond the Brighton defence with a lovely diagonal pass from the left wing. The striker waited for the keeper to come out and then nudged the ball to her right, where Rytting Kaneryd was waiting to finish into the empty net.

That effectively ended the game as a contest, although there was still time for Academy graduate Aimee Claypole to come off the bench to make her WSL debut at centre-back as Hayes gave some of her more experienced campaigners a well-deserved rest.

However, just when it looked like being the perfect day at the office for the Blues, Brighton substitute Danielle Carter pounced to score a late consolation goal for the away side, slotting in the rebound after a brilliant sliding block by Buchanan.

Our second-half performance may not have been as emphatic as the first, but our victory never looked in doubt despite that goal, as we left the pitch knowing the first half of our job was done and another win at the weekend will put us top of the table.

What's next?

We are in WSL action at Kingsmeadow again for a massive game this weekend, as we host league leaders Manchester United at 12.30pm on Sunday 12 March.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Musovic; Mjelde, Bright (c) (Claypole 82), Buchanan, Carter; Leupolz (Ingle 82); Rytting Kaneryd, Cankovic, Fleming, Reiten (Abdullina 76); Kerr (Charles 76)
Unused subs: Berger, Perisset, Eriksson, James
Scorers: Reiten 12, Carter 21, Rytting Kaneryd 71

Brighton (5-4-1): L. Williams; Kullberg, Connolly, V. Williams (c), Mores, Pattinson; Robinson, Olme, Lee (Bance 84), Visalli (Sarri 64); Terland (Carter 84)
Unused subs: Walsh, Bergsvand, Jarvis, Startup, Park
Scorer: Carter 88
Booked: Sarri 68

Referee: Abigail Byrne

Crowd: 916