Key events
Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s report from Kingsmeadow.
Chelsea scorer Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, via the BBC: “It was nervous minutes in the end, they were really pressing us and I feel like Hannah did some very good saves today. It was a typical first game of the season I feel like, I’m just happy we can win.”
“It’s been very different, Emma was here for so long and had her plan to play. Sonia came in and was clear with her plan to play. It’s hard in the beginning to set every detail in the game but I feel like it’s very clear. If you play for Chelsea you want to win, you should win.”
Sonia Bompastor speaks to the BBC: “It’s always important to get the win. I hoped we could score more goals but everyone said welcome to the league and here we are. Today you saw the importance of a goalkeeper being good at her feet. Villa played a great game. The result is important but the content is always important.”
Full-time: Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa
Late drama and Villa denied. They were the better team in the second half, having impressed in the first. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd got the winner but it was Hannah Hampton who made it a winning start for Sonia Bompastor.
90+4 min: Chelsea try to kill the clock with a late sub. Villa have a free-kick and D’Angelo heads it, another fine save from Hampton. She’s the match-winner…it comes to an end, Chelsea only just winning.
90+3 min: The keeper’s up, Daly gets on the end and WHAT A SAVE from Hampton. It looked to have crossed the line but no, that’s a crucial save.
90+2 min: Hampton smashes out of play, desperate stuff. And Villa have a corner.
90 min: Lucy Bronze attempts to kill some of the three minutes added on. Sonia Bompastor is looking nervous. She knows her team’s been in a game.
89 min: Millie Bright has to do a Peter Kay “ave it” in the area, smashing long. But Villa come back at them.
88 min: Millie Bright has to clear up when Katie Robinson is zipping to the byline. Plenty of defensive duties to be carried out as Villa push push push.
85 min: As in the first half, Villa have tired a little, but they’ve also pushed up, with Ebony Salmon now on. Rachel Daly isn’t happy when the ball doesn’t reach her in the area.
83 min: Lauren James is at last imminent. Kaneryd, the goalscorer, is the player to make way.
80 min: Some touchline histrionics from Robert de Pauw. His team have been pretty impressive and well organised.
78 min: Reiten goes in to come back out again but Chelsea fail to get the ball into the centre. Reece James is in the stands but then again, so is his sister. Lauren.
77 min: Chelsea push up, Hamano leading the press and picking up the loose ball.
75 min: Still so much to play for. Villa are now using the lively Leon as their out-ball.
74 min: Beever-Jones has a shot blocked as the Chelsea fans at last begin to sense their team getting somewhere. Lucy Parker almost knocks in Hamano’s cross after the Japanese player makes a darting run.
72 min: Lucy Bronze sits down. Injured? No, but very possibly tired out. Chelsea at last gain some territory when Reiten is pulled down.
70 min: Kaneryd remains a danger to Villa, who are otherwise dominating possession. Lucy Bronze makes a desperate clearance and De Pauw asks Lucy Hanson to press hard.
68 min: The changes haven’t altered the fact that Villa are on the charge, Leon has an impact, Millie Bright having to use all her wiles. Chelsea look short of ideas. De Pauw can be heard again.
66 min: Villa changes. Grant off, having played so well. Leon on. Dali off, Katie Robinson on.
For Chelsea, Beever-Jones and Hamano come on. Baltimore and Ramirez, both quiet, depart the field.
64 min: Villa are still at it, you know. Another corner is forced. Chelsea make a mess of a counterattack when they had players over, and Bright is forced to make a desperate tackle.
62 min: Rachel Daly performs a swan dive to win a free-kick. All her experience was used there.
61 min: Kirsty Hanson has been highly active since coming on at half-time. More Villa subs are imminent.
60 min: Chelsea go close…chances at both ends, this time Ramirez cuts inside, but cannot find a teammate to complete her work.
58 min: Fine defending from Buchanan as Hanson seemed likely to get away but the corner is taken far too flatly, a waste of territory.
56 min: Chelsea corner, and Keisha Buchanan heads over, having gone too early on the climb.
54 min: Kaneryd and Reiten link down the flanks, and the ball bounces back out, to no takers. Sonia Bompastor is having a word with the fourth official.
52 min: Villa – again – pushing up high. They’ve been excellent…but perhaps they are not so tight defensively…Baltimore goes close for Chelsea when space opens up.
50 min: Rachel Daly’s header from the edge of the box almost beats Hampton who looks a little lost as it spins beyond her, and off the bar. Villa are still creating chances.
49 min: Kaneryd is on song, taking down a long ball from Hampton, tucking inside and then setting up Ramirez, who then misses the target.
47 min: Villa back on the front foot and Chastity Grant forces a corner. That causes some chaos as the ball is around to bounce, Lucy Parker can’t connect and Hannah Hampton is only too glad to claim the ball.
46 min: Back for the second half, and it’s a Villa change, with Kirsty Hanson replacing Lucy Staniforth, who was on a yellow.
The stats tell a story: 53% to 47%, five shots to four.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa
Chelsea were not great there, with Villa’s efforts holding them at bay. Sonia Bompastor looked relieved at that Kaneryd goal. Villa played well, in my opinion though the TV commentators seem to disagree with me.
45 min: From a set piece, Millie Bright only narrowly fails to commit; Chelsea really stepping it up now.
44 min: Villa seem to be tiring, and Lucy Staniforth, already on a booking concedes a foul on Cuthbert.
43 min: Bronze and Reiten link up, trying to get Ramirez on the ball but it’s Lucy Parker to the rescue.
