Chelsea thrash Manchester United in WSL as Lauren James revels in free role

A swaggering Chelsea cast off any suggestion that they had lost the ability to kill off games, putting five goals past a worryingly lacklustre and lackadaisical Manchester United side.

The match had been talked about as something of a must win for Sonia Bompastor’s side after they were inexplicably held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa on the opening weekend, despite a staggering domination of that match. Criticism felt harsh given their level of control over the game, but signs of the profligacy evident last season reared its head in warning at Stamford Bridge.

To some extent the concern did not need to be too deep. Chelsea were at their creative best against Villa and were without the injured centre-forwards Melvine Malard and Mayra Ramírez, while Aggie Beever-Jones, who led the line against the Midlands side, had not scored in the Women’s Super League since September 2025. Off-target Beever-Jones was relegated to the bench for the trip to United. Instead, Lauren James and Sjoeke Nüsken worked away interchangeably up front.

The visitors were similarly fluid in other areas, lining up for kick-off in a back three, at times converting to a back four and at others seemingly playing with a back two. It was super effective. Chelsea were unpredictable and James’s free-to-roam role put their super-talent at the centre of everything.

Reward for their efforts arrived in the 21st minute. Lucy Bronze sent a looping ball over the top and Dominique Janssen should have been first to it, but the United defender misread the fall of the ball and a stalking Wieke Kaptein nipped it away from her. Kaptein squared to Nüsken who fired in from close-range.

The second goal, which eluded them against Villa, arrived just over 10 minutes later, to stretch the game away from struggling United, who underwhelmed in their 2-1 loss to London City Lionesses in the opening game of the new season. A diving header from new recruit Andrea Medina cleared a cross whipped in from the left but gut-busting Bronze was there to meet it, clipping it into the path of Keira Walsh who took a step and powered in from the edge of the box.

Worryingly, barring a tame early effort from Julia Zigiotti Olme that was easy for Hannah Hampton, United did not threaten at any point, and with their bench light after a heavily criticised summer transfer window, it was difficult to see where any serious threat would arrive from.

A very brief brighter spell after the break was snuffed out by the visiting team. James finally got on the scoresheet after the hour mark, latching on to Walsh’s defence-splitting pass and shrugging off Janssen before sending a low drive in to the net. It was the formidable player’s seventh shot of the game, having twice been denied by superb saves from a full-stretch Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Chelsea’s fourth rubbed salt in for a very wounded United side. Janssen, under no pressure, failed to respond to an ambitious burst from Kaptein and the Chelsea midfielder pickpocketed the centre-back and slipped the ball wide to the onrushing Ellie Carpenter. The Australian’s first effort was kept out by Tullis-Joyce but she could not keep out Carpenter’s follow-up which was blasted emphatically in to the roof of the net. And Bronze poured on some vinegar during the final minute of added time, hammering the ball in after Walsh knocked a corner back into the melee in the six-yard box.

It became a training exercise for the visiting team and the hosts failed in their attempts to limit the damage. Things look as if they will get worse for Eva Olid’s side before they get better, with a trip to the Emirates to play Arsenal coming up next weekend.