The England goalkeeper came to the Blues' rescue twice in Friday night's season opener, allowing the post-Emma Hayes era to start with a win.
The Sonia Bompastor era has lift off. On Friday night, Chelsea kickstarted the new Women's Super League season with their first game in the competition in over 12 years without Emma Hayes – but despite her absence, the winning ways continued in a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.
It wasn't a classic. The early moments, which saw Guro Reiten flash two efforts wide of the far post, suggested it could be one-way traffic. However, it ended up being anything but as Villa grew into the game and showed glimpses of what their own new head coach, Robert de Pauw, has spent the summer implementing.
Still, it was a game that showed rust, one in which players just weren't quite on the same page or hadn't found their shooting boots yet, given it was the opening day of the season. That was until a flurry of fireworks behind the main stand at Kingsmeadow provided a spark that the match had been missing through its first half an hour. Moments later, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd unleashed a rocket of her own, firing in a stunning solo goal.
It was a rare moment of quality in an otherwise scrappy match, one in which Chelsea were hanging on in the final stages. That ability to stay in the contest will certainly have pleased Villa and De Pauw and Rachel Daly must have thought she'd got an equaliser at the death, only for England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton to produce an outstanding save to deny her. Moments later, she was called into action again, this time thwarting opposing shot-stopper Sabrina D'Angelo with a stop that ensured Bompastor's story at the club started with a victory.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Kingsmeadow…
Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence
Hannah Hampton (8/10):
Fantastic distribution. Didn't have much to do until she produced two huge saves in stoppage time to ensure Chelsea got all three points.
Lucy Bronze (7/10):
Read play well at the back to make a number of timely interceptions.
Millie Bright (7/10):
Defensive work was strong, most notably a brave block with her head midway through the second half.
Kadeisha Buchanan (7/10):
Didn't get caught out of position and intervened with some important actions when needed. Settled performance.
Ashley Lawrence (7/10):
Had to switch to her less natural side but it hardly showed. Solid display.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield
Erin Cuthbert (7/10):
Battled hard, winning possession back more than any other player, and was relatively faultless in her passing.
Sjoeke Nusken (7/10):
Another player who worked hard in the middle of the park. Only Cuthbert regained the ball more often.
Guro Reiten (6/10):
Picked up good pockets of space and looked a stronger goal threat in this more central position early on, though did fade out of the game.
Getty ImagesAttack
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (8/10):
Broke the deadlock with a truly stunning solo goal. Was Chelsea's liveliest attacker and took some gorgeous touches.
Mayra Ramirez (6/10):
Was a real nuisance for the Villa defence with her endeavour, though couldn't find the back of the net.
Sandy Baltimore (5/10):
Had a few nearly moments early that just didn't quite come off. Faded and struggled to get involved after a good start.
Subs & Manager
Maika Hamano (6/10):
Livened things up when she came on with just over 20 minutes to go, albeit without helping Chelsea add to the scoreline.
Aggie Beever-Jones (5/10):
Showed good movement and ensured the Villa defence couldn't switch off, though didn't have too many moments after almost profiting from a deadly Hamano cross straight away.
Lauren James (N/A):
On for the final few minutes as the Blues saw the win out.
Nathalie Bjorn (N/A):
On in stoppage time to defend set pieces.
Sonia Bompastor (7/10):
Had a few different selection dilemmas to contend with in her starting XI but each individual decision paid off to get her team off to a winning start. Not a perfect display but that felt more to do with the fact it was Chelsea's first competitive fixture of the season, rather than anything else.