‘Everything is almost perfect’ – Chelsea send message as they beat Man City

It was by no means a complete performance by Chelsea, though.

Both sides had spells of pressure, with neither taking control.

Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw was gifted a chance to make it 1-0 in the first half when Sandy Baltimore’s wayward back pass played her in, but the WSL’s top-scorer did not take the opportunity.

The second half continued to be riddled with errors but Chelsea eventually took advantage and were able to wrap up victory when not at their best.

Bompastor said on Friday they “had a plan to deal” with Manchester City’s domination of possession and it worked, despite their visitors having 63% of the ball.

“It was a different type of performance,” said Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert.

“We have dominated a lot of games possession-wise but tonight we were happy to sit behind the ball, be compact.

“It was more of a traditional performance – but Sonia is a winner and will do whatever it takes to win. We got the tactics spot on.”

With key players still set to return – strikers Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel are recovering from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, so too now has defender Kadeisha Buchanan, while England forward Lauren James and defender Niamh Charles have also been missing – Chelsea are only likely to get better.

And perhaps the scariest thing is that they still remain far from their best.

“Maybe one of my strengths – and the staff’s – is that we know exactly how we have to perform. We have a clear vision on what we have to do to achieve our goals,” said Bompastor.

“At the moment we are performing, getting good results, but there is still lots of room for improvement. We have players injured who can come into the squad.

“Sometimes people think because you have the good results, that’s enough. For me, that is not enough. I know exactly what we have to do to get even better.”