Some Chelsea Women players who will be in WSL action at Stamford Bridge against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday have played in international matches; Ramona Bachmann scored for Switzerland while Guro Reiten and Adelina Engman got assists for their countries.
Bachmann was part of Switzerland’s comfortable 4-0 victory against Lithuania in their first Euro 2021 qualifier match tonight. The Swiss forward not only scored the third goal, but she captained her side to the victory. It was an important win for the Chelsea player and her team-mates as they will be eager to make amends after frustratingly missing out on a spot at the 2019 World Cup.
A number of Blues faced each other this evening in an international friendly as Norway welcomed England to the southwestern Scandinavian city of Bergen. The Norwegians came away with a well-deserved 2-1 victory, and Reiten set up her side's second goal late on.
Chelsea goalkeeper Carly Telford and defender Millie Bright started the game for the Lionesses. Bethany England received her second cap when she was brought on for the final quarter-of-an-hour and Hannah Blundell was an unused substitute.
Our Norwegian defensive duo, Maren Mjedle and Maria Thorisdottir, were Norway’s centre-back pairing and Reiten played in attack.
England took the lead after 10 minutes from Georgia Stanway of Manchester City. Her well-struck first-time effort flew into the top corner.
Soon after the break, Norway levelled the scoring from Reiten’s set-piece. The 25-year-old whipped the ball into a busy six-yard box for Linkoping’s Frida Maanum to direct her powerful header past Telford on 53 minutes. The Chelsea goalkeeper made way for Manchester City’s young Ellie Roebuck with less than quarter-of-an-hour left.
Norway extended their lead with one minute remaining on the clock through a defensive mishap. Bright gave the ball away to Caroline Graham Hansen and the forward punished the Lionesses when she slammed the ball beyond Roebuck to seal Norway’s victory.
Due to being the host nation for the Euro 2021 tournament, England are not required to play any qualifying matches.
Norway played their first Group C match on Friday versus Northern Ireland and got off to a perfect start having left with a commanding 6-0 victory. Chelsea’s newest signing, Reiten, opened the scoring after just four minutes, and Mjelde and Thorisdottir kept a clean sheet in defence.
World Cup bronze medallists Sweden began their Euro 2021 qualifying campaign with an impressive 4-1 triumph over Lithuania this evening. Magdalena Eriksson played at left-back, while Jonna Andersson remained on the bench.
Wales and Sophie Ingle continued with their strong start in Group C with a 2-1 win against Northern Ireland. On Thursday, Wales travelled to the Faroe Islands and beat them 6-0 with Reading’s Natasha Harding registering a hat-trick.
Adelina Engman was part of Finland’s 3-0 win against Albania and assisted the second goal in their opening qualifier match Monday evening.
Our international stars will be on show on Sunday 8 September at Stamford Bridge where the Blues will take on Tottenham Hotspur in our opening WSL match.
A few more free tickets for the match against Tottenham Women have been made available with restricted views in the Matthew Harding Stand lower tier and East Stand upper tier, plus a limited number of returned tickets in other areas of the stadium.
There is plenty going on and a VIP Brunch Package available priced £60, including premium seating next to the Directors' Box and a two-course meal.