Twente made things difficult with their resolute defending on the night. A hard-fought first half ended goalless as the Blues poured forward in an attempt to open the scoring, but the home side were equal to the pressure we posed in attack.

After the interval, Twente worked tirelessly to stem the tide of Chelsea's marches forward once more. And as the game reached the hour mark, it was clear Twente were growing in confidence as they began to attack themselves.

Indeed, it was Twente who took the lead through their captain Dominique van Ginkel, as she gathered the ball on the corner of the box and bent an excellent strike beyond Livia Peng.

The Blues levelled through a Sandy Baltimore penalty after 70 minutes, and despite our attacking intent, could not penetrate a resolute Dutch backline.

Rotated XI

Sonia Bompastor took the opportunity to make some alterations to her side, bringing in goalkeeper Peng to make her Blues debut in place of Hannah Hampton.

There were also six outfield changes from the 1-1 draw at Manchester United last Friday, with Veerle Buurman, Maika Hamano, Oriane Jean-Francois, Sjoeke Nusken, Alyssa Thompson and Guro Reiten all coming into the starting XI.

Positive start

Our first chance of the match came when Reiten delivered some good work down the left wing. Jean-Francois swung in the resulting corner, and Aggie Beever-Jones went close by heading her attempt onto the near post.

When Twente hit back with a swift counter-attack, Ellie Carpenter was on hand to sweep the ball away from danger.

The Blues continued to advance in the opening quarter of an hour, and some tenacious work on the left wing from Jean-Francois saw the France international pick out Hamano, who fired her shot from distance just over the bar.

Attacks thwarted

With 25 minutes gone in the first half, Beever-Jones let fly with an attempt from distance, but Twente goalkeeper Diede Lemy was there to make the catch. Twente were defending well, albeit with their backs to the wall. Reiten went close to opening the scores with a header that went just wide as half-time approached, with Thompson supplying the superb ball in.

The American forward then hit a shot at Lemy from inside the box, and the goalkeeper briefly spilled the attempt, but soon gathered again before a player from either side could reach the rebound. The Blues recorded 79 per cent possession in the final 15 minutes of the half, but could not make that advantage count.

As the second period kicked off, Beever-Jones was flagged offside for an attempt that Lemy had already saved, and Thompson had the ball in the back of the net for the first time as a Chelsea player, but she too fell foul of the offside flag.

Second half changes

Bompastor chose to switch things up, and Kaptein was introduced to a big round of applause from the fans of her former side. Fellow substitute Erin Cuthbert was also brought on soon afterwards.

Still Twente battled. Defending hard and playing on the counter-attack, only a last-ditch intervention from Sandy Baltimore stopped Jill Roord from sliding in her chance for the home side at the near post.

The Chelsea substitutes in particular pushed for an equaliser. Kaptein tried her luck from distance, hitting the side netting with her attempt, and Cuthbert hit an attempt just over the bar.

Level terms

Then came a lifeline for the Blues as Reiten was upended in the box and we were awarded a penalty. Baltimore stepped up to take and rifled her attempt home into the bottom left corner.

The France international was then replaced by 16-year-old Chloe Sarwie, who took her chance to fire a long-range effort on goal, but the ball flew inches over the bar.

It felt like Chelsea would eventually find an equaliser, but despite a raft of late attacks, the Twente defence held firm as they ground out a point.

What it means

Chelsea and FC Twente earn a point apiece in the UWCL league phase table, with five more games still to play.

What comes next

Chelsea return to Women's Super League action on Sunday lunchtime when we take on Tottenham Hotspur at Kingsmeadow.

The teams

Chelsea: Peng, Carpenter, Bright (c), Buurman, Baltimore (Sarwie 73), Jean-Francois, Hamano (Kaptein 53), Nusken (Cuthbert 54), Thompson (Rytting Kaneryd 61), Reiten (Kerr 73), Beever-Jones
Unused Substitutes: Hampton, Walsh, Bjorn, Potter
Scorers: Baltimore 71 (pen)
FC Twente: Lemey, Carleer, Knol, Groenewegen, Van Ginkel (c), Ravensbergen (Andradottir 88), Roord, Tuin, Vliek, Oude Elberink (Van der Vegt 69), Proost (Ivens 78)
Unused Substitutes: Hulst, Diekman, Te Brake, Bussman, Verdaasdonk
Scorers: Van Ginkel 63

Referee: Marta Huerta De Aza