Our goalscorers from the win against Arsenal, Lauren James and Sjoeke Nusken, repeated the trick in Amsterdam with a goal apiece in the first half and Nusken doubling her tally late in the second.

Ajax had hit the woodwork before a VAR decision over-ruled an offside call on James’ opener, but that was the only time our opponents came genuinely close to scoring.

Guro Reiten had a Blues goal chalked off after another video review but then provided the assist for Nusken to score her first in European competition for Chelsea.

The second half yielded less opportunities as Chelsea remained steady and continued to look the stronger side, with a healthy lead in the tie secured late on by a quality far-post header from Nusken, her fourth goal in the space of four days.

It was the first-leg performance of a side comfortable on the European stage.

The second leg is at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 27 March and tickets are available here

Both teams came into this first meeting in good form domestically and although this is the first time Ajax have reached this stage of the Champions League, they did so by coming through a tough group and had won all their home matches.

Following the impressive derby dissection of Arsenal at the Bridge, it was no surprise that Emma Hayes named an unchanged Chelsea side for this match, especially as there were no returnees into the squad from the injury list.

In the build-up to the game, our manager had highlighted the experience of this competition within her side as potentially important. They were playing in front of a big crowd inside the Johan Cruyff Arena for Ajax’s latest outing there.

Ajax start well but go behind

It was the Dutch side who were unlucky not to take the lead inside the first 10 minutes having found space for a move through the middle of Chelsea’s defence. Chasity Grant’s shot hit the post after passing Hannah Hampton at full stretch. A Tiny Hoekstra effort was straight at the Blues goalie soon after, as Ajax for a second time showed potency on the counter-attack.

Their highly rated 16-year-old, Lily Yohannes, picked up an early booking that rules her out of the second leg. For today's game they were missing their captain and hugely experienced Dutch international midfielder Sherida Spitse due to suspension.

With 18 minutes played, it was time for VAR to intervene and award Chelsea the opening goal – originally ruled out for offside.

Reiten won the ball high up the pitch and when Nusken sent it forward, it took more than one deflection off an Ajax player before ending up at the feet of James. Our top scorer slotted it home with the flag going up. Replays quickly suggested she had been onside, and the VAR officials agreed.

We had the lead but there was a scare when Hampton was challenged when dribbling the ball forward, opening up a chance to lob towards goal for Yohannes. Thankfully she sent the ball well over.

Double Dutch dismay

Instead, there was a second Blues goal before half-time. Before that was scored, an unmarked Nusken headed an Eve Perisset free-kick well wide and Reiten put the ball in the net after Ajax made a mess of defending a James cross, but that goal was cancelled out for Nusken in an offside position preventing a home defender from clearing the ball.

Within a flash of the referee making that decision having viewed it on a screen, Nusken herself had scored. Reiten this time crossed low and the German beat her marker to the ball to slide it in from the edge of the six-yard box. She could have made it 3-0 before the interval but shot wide.

Ajax stepped up the tempo after the break and saw a decent amount of the ball for a spell, but Hampton remained untroubled. It was Nusken who had the clearest chance in the early part of the second half but she lofted a shot comfortably over.

Cuthbert and James had shots saved, before the former stretched to meet a Reiten cross but could not send it on target. There was just under 20 minutes to go and Ashley Lawrence and Cat Macario were introduced, Lawrence playing in an advanced role on the right and seeing plenty of the ball.

It was Macario though who scooped a cross over from that flank that served up the ball perfectly for Nusken to powerfully head home goal number three.

What it means

Chelsea know a steady performance in just over a week’s time should be sufficient to send the Blues into the Champions League semi-finals for a second season running – and keep our dream of a quadruple this season alive.

What's next?

The WSL campaign resumes on Sunday with a London derby - an away visit to West Ham for a 4.30pm kick-off.

Chelsea Hampton; Perisset, Carter, Buchanan, Charles (Beever-Jones 87); Cuthbert (c) (Cankovic 84), Leupolz (Ingle 87); Rytting Kaneryd (Lawrence 73), Nusken, Reiten; James (Macario 73)
Unused subs Musovic, Cox, Kirby
Scorers James 19, Nusken 44, 83

Ajax Van Eijk; Keijzer, Kardinaal, De Sanders, De Klonia, Noordam (c), Van Gool (Noordman 87), Yohannes (Van de Velde 67), Grant, Leuchter, T. Hoekstra (Keukelaar 73)
Unused subs Nienhuis, Van der Wal, Verhoeve, I Hoekstra, B Jansen, Sabajo, Tolhoek
Booked Yohannes 14

Referee Maria Caputi from Italy