Chelsea Ladies begin title defence by thrashing Belles

Karen Carney scored her second goal in as many games as Chelsea Ladies stormed to a 4-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles in their Women’s Super League opener.

England winger Carney, who netted in the 4-1 win over the same opposition in the FA Cup on Sunday, was a menace throughout, opening the scoring from the penalty spot.

And despite an unfortunate Claire Rafferty own goal, the reigning champions eased home with headed goals from Beth England and Katie Chapman, and a second-half strike from Eni Aluko.

Doncaster were outclassed before the interval, but upped the tempo in a fiercely competitive second half.

But Chelsea still created the better chances, the best of which was taken by Aluko, who got on the end of flowing move to coolly slot in a cross from substitute Gemma Davison.