We faced a new-look Manchester United side who were led by new boss Eva Olid after they had parted ways with their head coach Marc Skinner in the summer, following his five-year spell in charge of the club.

After an initial exchange of chances, Chelsea began to assert our dominance in the game. It was Sjoeke Nusken – playing in a more advanced role than normal – who opened the scoring with a composed finish from a Wieke Kaptein assist.

Doubling our advantage on the half-hour mark was Keira Walsh, who let fly with a powerful drive into the bottom corner to take a firm grip of the contest. The home side worked hard but were no match for the Blues, and Lauren James put us three goals to the good with a clinical finish after an hour.

Ellie Carpenter then ended all hope of a comeback for the Red Devils when she kept her head to finish her own rebound, putting us 4-0 up. We added our fifth and final goal from a corner routine. Bronze reacted first to pick up the ball in the box, and the left-back smashed home from close range to complete the rout.

The team answered Bompastor's call for them to be more clinical after last week's draw with Aston Villa, Walsh grabbed a goal and an assist on her 50th Chelsea appearance, and there were also Women's Super League debuts for substitutes Giulia Dragoni and Nelly Las in a day that was packed with positives.

Changes made

Bompastor made two changes to her starting XI ahead of this clash, switching Veerle Buurman for Kadeisha Buchanan and bringing in Chelsea Academy graduate Lexi Potter in place of striker Aggie Beever-Jones.

Alongside Potter in the midfield was the experienced Walsh, who passed the 50-appearance marker for Chelsea with her place in the starting line-up. On the bench was defender Nathalie Bjorn, having made her recovery from a lengthy injury layoff.

When the match kicked off, it was clear that the versatile Nusken had been deployed in an advanced attacking role, with James in the central striker position.

Both sides traded chances in the early stages of the encounter, as Elisabeth Terland tested the gloves of Hannah Hampton, while Katie McCabe made life difficult for Phallon Tullis-Joyce with a cross-cum-shot which dipped dramatically and went just over the bar.

The breakthrough

With 15 minutes gone, Potter played a neat sideways pass into James on the left-hand side, for the No.10 to swing in a cross to the far post to pick out Wieke Kaptein. The Netherlands international's headed effort was collected gratefully by Tullis Joyce, but there were signs the Blues were finding the spaces in attack.

We breached the home side's defences after a prolonged spell of pressure and neat play around the penalty area with 20 minutes gone. Kaptein capitalised on a moment of hesitation in the opposition backline and fed the ball to Nusken, and the Germany international slotted home with a composed finish.

Our defence had to switch on to protect our advantage minutes later, when Buchanan made a perfectly timed sliding block inside the penalty area to put the ball out for a corner.

Extending the advantage

The Blues continued to dominate possession and drove forward with every given opportunity. And when Bronze played the ball to international team-mate Walsh on the edge of the box, the midfielder seized her chance to drill the ball towards goal. The shot was as clean as they come, and it flew into the bottom corner to mark Walsh's 50th Chelsea appearance in style.

With the half-time whistle approaching, James saw her curling effort palmed away by Tullis-Joyce, before Carpenter had a close-range shot well blocked on the follow-up.

Cruising forward

The Blues were hungry for more after the break. James struck the ball into the danger area, but Alyssa Thompson couldn't quite get there for what would've been an easy tap-in as it trickled along the goal-line.

The American then switched roles with the No.10 as she got round her marker on the left and put a cross in, but Thompson couldn't direct her shot goalwards. Yet it wasn't long before James had her second in as many WSL matches. Played in with a killer pass from Walsh, the forward slotted home with confidence, getting her just reward for an excellent display.

With the home side disheartened, Chelsea pushed on. Carpenter found herself in a position to shoot and initially stung the gloves of Tullis-Joyce, but when the rebound fell nicely at her feet, she had the opportunity to have another go and this time side-footed her shot into the back of the net.

Substitute Sandy Baltimore also went close later on, and Buchanan slid in with another incredible block at the other end as the match ended with Man United limited to just two shots on goal by the Blues backline. Deep into stoppage time, Bronze scored her first of the campaign with an emphatic finish from close-range. This was a truly dominant display from Chelsea, one that will give Bompastor and her team confidence as we move forward in the new campaign.

What it means...

We take our points tally to four after our first two WSL matches of the season.

Up next...

We return to Stamford Bridge in WSL action when we face Birmingham City next Saturday lunchtime, with kick-off set for 12.45pm.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter (Las 84), Bronze (c), Buchanan, McCabe (Buurman 70), Walsh, Nusken, Kaptein (Dragoni 80), Potter, James (Baltimore 71), Thompson (Hamano 71)
Unused substitutes: Peng, Bjorn, Beever-Jones
Scorers: Nusken 21, Walsh 32, James 61, Carpenter 65, Bronze 90+6
Booked: Buchanan 94

Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Le Tissier (c), Lundkvist, Medina (Sandberg 56), Toone (Bernal 62), Park, Terland (Schuller 80), Zigiotti, Janssen, Miyazawa, Jusu Bah (Awujo 62)
Unused substitutes: Leitzig, Hill, Simpson, Griffiths, Anderson
Booked: Bernal 84

Referee: Grace Lowe