Sonia Bompastor hails Chelsea’s Champions League win over Twente despite Lauren James fitness worry
FC Twente 1-3 Chelsea: The England forward James sustained a foot issue during the warm-up
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor felt her side delivered an efficient display to beat FC Twente 3-1 for a second straight Champions League win, but faces an anxious wait on the fitness of Lauren James.
The Women’s Super League champions sit top of Group B after successive European victories.
Bompastor, though, had been forced into a late change to her initial starting XI with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd replacing England forward James who had picked up a foot issue.
“In the last moment of warm-up she felt something in her foot,” Bompastor said, quoted on the Chelsea club website.
“At the moment it’s too early for me to say something else about LJ. We will have to assess her tomorrow in London and see how she feels.’
Aggie Beever-Jones fired the Blues into an early lead in Enschede before a stunning long-range effort from Maika Hamano doubled their advantage ahead of half-time.
Guro Reiten added a third from the penalty spot in the second half, her 50th goal for Chelsea, with Nikee van Dijk pulling one back for Twente in the 68th minute.
“We started the game strongly. We were efficient being able to score really quickly,” Bompastor said.
“We saw some good movement from the players. For me, we just got the three points which is really important. We are top now which is the main goal.
“Also, we had the opportunity to rotate and manage some players. Some players could rest in preparation for the (WSL) game on Sunday (against Tottenham).
“It just shows how much quality there is in the group, and also how much I trust everyone in the group.
“It’s good to have the quality in the group to make sure we can rotate and play every single game with a lot of competition.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments