The Blues raced to a 3-0 lead thanks to early goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Johanna Rytting Kanerd and Erin Cuthbert before the Hammers had a player sent off on 26 minutes.

While that seemed to stem the flow of Chelsea’s relentless attacks, the Blues added a fourth through Wieke Kaptein on 70 minutes to complete a good afternoon’s work.

‘We started strong and were able to score three within the first [15] minutes of the game,’ said Bompastor after the victory. ‘I think when you are clinical like that, you just kill the opposition’s hope. In these games, that’s really important. We did a fantastic job early on.

‘The game changed a little bit after West Ham’s red card, but our intentions didn’t change, and we wanted to score as many goals as we could. We were only able to score one in the second half, but we created a lot and we worked a lot on the connections on the pitch, which is good.

‘It was a good result and a good performance today. I was very happy with the efforts of the team.'

On Saturday, fellow title contenders Arsenal dropped points after conceding a late equaliser at home to Aston Villa, and the boss explained how she talked her players through the importance of creating a gap at the top before our match kicked off on Sunday.

Having done exactly that, Bompastor was pragmatic about what a two-point early lead at the top means for her Chelsea side.

‘Before the game we talked a little bit with the players about the table,’ she continued. ‘We wanted to remain top of the table, we wanted to extend the lead over Arsenal, and that’s always important when you have that opportunity.

‘But we are really early in the season, we have so many games to be played, and we will focus on ourselves. We want to be professional; we want to take every opportunity when it’s possible to win games and take three points. This is what we did today. Our run continues, and it’s good for our confidence, but we know there is still work to be done.’

Beever-Jones continued her run of good form with a stunning free-kick netted after just eight minutes against West Ham, and became the first Blues player to find the back of the net in all of the first four games of a WSL season.

Bompastor was naturally delighted by the output of our young striker, but not surprised.

‘Aggie has been fantastic for us,’ she said. ‘Not only from the beginning of this season but last year as well. She’s been crucial in terms of being clinical, scoring important goals and great goals for us as well. It’s really good for her personally, and for the team as well, so I’m really pleased with that.’

Our next test comes away at Manchester United on Friday evening. While the boss and her players will have some time to recover from their latest win, thoughts will quickly turn to another away game in the WSL.

‘Every game in this league is tough,’ Bompastor concluded. ‘Playing Man United right now, we will have to travel away, and we expect to play against tough opposition. They have a lot of quality on the pitch.

‘We never take anything for granted, we work hard and now it’s time to enjoy the victory, to rest from the game today and then prepare for the next one because it will be a big challenge.’