The Swedish star provided the assist for Alyssa Thompson’s goal and nearly scored herself with a powerful drive that thundered off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared.

After our last WSL outing at Kingsmeadow ended in a disappointing defeat to Everton, Rytting Kaneryd highlighted the importance of the Blues claiming all three points on their return to WSL action following the winter break.

‘It was very important to start the year with a win,’ the 28-year-old said. ‘We lost the last time we played here, so we all knew what we needed to do to win.

‘We were all disappointed with the result against Everton, so we needed to go out there with the right mentality against West Ham and, of course, it was nice to score the first goal early in the game.

‘After we scored the second, I felt we had control of the match and we really enjoyed it. We created a lot of opportunities and scoring a lot of goals felt good.

‘It gives us a lot of confidence going forward. It’s easy to play when everyone is in a good mood, and we’re converting our chances.’

Rytting Kaneryd was an important member of the Chelsea squad that claimed a domestic Treble under Sonia Bompastor last season, and she says the Blues are unfazed by the task of chasing down current WSL leaders Manchester City, who hold a six-point advantage in the table.

After her superb performance against West Ham, the winger praised her team-mates and the unity within the group.

‘It’s important to always focus on ourselves and what we can do,’ Rytting Kaneryd continued. ‘It’s about winning football matches, and that’s how we win titles. We know what we need to do to win.

‘Mine and Alyssa’s strengths are running in behind, but I felt the setup worked well today, especially with Lauren (James) just behind as a number ten. I was trying to make spaces for my team-mates and make as many runs as I could.

‘One of our biggest strengths in this team is the pace we have, and it’s really fun to play with Alyssa and Ellie (Carpenter) because you can just serve them the ball and then they just run, even if they've started off a little bit behind.

‘Alyssa’s pace is unreal, and she’s really good on the ball, too. She’s very dangerous and creates a lot of chances for us. She’s been scoring and assisting, and that says a lot about her and I’m so happy to play with her.’