Bompastor mentioned the difficulties of facing 'many fixtures, big games, and also a lot of travel' during this first block of matches before the international break, and with Sunday's fixture the last of four games in the space of 11 days, a 3-0 victory was something to be celebrated.

It could so easily have been different. The match at the Chigwell Construction Stadium was preceded by a tough 1-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and the aforementioned 0-0 away at Lyon. Those who watched both of those contests will have seen our players collapse in a heap at the final whistle; such was the gargantuan effort needed to secure those points.

And with international games in sight for almost all of our players, it would've been so easy to underestimate the opposition and take one eye off the ball. It was another huge lift from players who had physically given their all, and we avoided the potential banana skin to take maximum points.

Here's a look at how we did it...

West Ham look to exploit our fatigue

The Hammers finished 10th out of 12 teams in the Women's Super League last season, earning just 19 points from 22 games. It may be that they recognised the potential gulf when it came to this fixture, setting up in an ultra-defensive shape to try and neutralise our attacking threats.

With all 11 players behind the ball – as the graphic below shows – it seems like a fairly extreme way to approach the contest from head coach Rita Guarino.

The lack of even one outfield player left higher up the pitch to be alive to any potential counter-attacking opportunities meant that West Ham finished the match with no shots on goal and not even a single touch in our box, becoming the first WSL team to have failed to do so in the last ten years of the competition.

But there was perhaps method in the madness. After our intense physical battles against Arsenal and Lyon, it stands to reason that we could've turned up in Dagenham with high levels of fatigue, and perhaps the Hammers coach saw the opportunity to make things really difficult and take a point from high-level opponents.

And it did take a fine finish from Melvine Malard after 38 energy-sapping minutes to break the deadlock, while the second and third goals weren't scored until 80' and 87'. It's a tactic that could've paid off if it wasn't for Chelsea's determination and resilience that we have seen throughout the course of the new campaign.

Brilliant back three

It's now been nine hours since the Blues last conceded a goal in all competitions. While the six consecutive clean sheets are the result of a whole-team effort, the backline has played a key role in keeping the opposition at bay.

Against West Ham, Bompastor selected the same back three that had been so successful against Lyon: Lucy Bronze, Kadeisha Buchanan and Veerle Buurman.

All three played a role in the victory over West Ham, and with the opposition's aversion to attacking, their defending became more about winning the ball back to regain possession rather than making last-ditch attempts to extinguish any genuine threats.

Bronze stood out in particular on this occasion, winning four of her six tackles in both halves of the pitch, as indicated in the graphic above, and making the most passes of any Chelsea player with 75.

Walsh shines again

This was another game where Keira Walsh stood out for an exceptional performance in her more advanced role. Last season, it took the midfielder 2117 minutes of action in the WSL and UWCL to score two goals; this season it has taken her just 560 to net twice in those competitions, excluding our two-legged qualifier against Real Sociedad.

What's changed? It's been well documented that Walsh has been able to get forward more since the emergence of Lexi Potter from the Chelsea Academy. The 20-year-old is comfortable in the holding midfielder role that Walsh has traditionally occupied, and the West Ham game shows how she makes a difference to her more experienced counterpart.

Potter did not start against West Ham, and in the first half Walsh took one shot and made 37 passes in the absence of her young sidekick. Bompastor then switched Potter for Sjoeke Nusken at half-time, unlocking the newly adventurous Walsh as she made four shots, scoring once, and with less responsibility as a playmaker made six fewer passes (31) than she had done in the opening 45 minutes.

Team player Kaptein

Walsh isn't the only player to have made a shift in the new season. A look at Wieke Kaptein's stats against West Ham shows that she created the most chances of any Chelsea player with six, attempted the most crosses (five), completed the third-most passes in the final third of the pitch (18) and made the joint-most ball recoveries (alongside Bronze with six).

She completed all of these unselfish actions without taking a single shot on goal. Watching the 21-year-old in action shows she is focused on helping the team at any given opportunity. Kaptein has fully bought into Bompastor's shift to a team-first mentality, and a look at her WSL metrics for this season in the graphic above reveals how useful she has been to the side so far this term.