Macario double nudges Chelsea towards glory

Chelsea put their Champions League defeat against Barcelona behind them with a 4-0 victory against a 10-player Crystal Palace.

- Sophie Downey

Guro Reiten opened from the spot before Catarina Macario scored a brace. Mia Fishel rounded off the night to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Women's Super League.

Chelsea were always clear favourites coming into this game. The fortunes of the two sides could not have been more different - the hosts were unbeaten in the league and had scored over three times more goals than their opponents; Palace, meanwhile, were rooted to the bottom, fighting for survival.

The one doubt surrounding Chelsea was how quickly they could recover from their weekend disappointment against Barca which all but destroyed their quadruple hopes. Sonia Bompastor rotated heavily, making seven changes. The experienced Guro Reiten made her first start since returning from a back injury while Macario also returned in a changed attacking line. Naomi Girma made her second start since joining in January, replacing the injured Nathalie Bjorn in defence.