Chelsea beat Roma 2-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday night to continue their unbeaten start to the league phase and move to the top of the table. After a goalless first half at Plough Lane, substitute Ellie Carpenter broke the deadlock in the 51st minute and Kadeisha Buchanan headed in a second in the 89th minute, both from Wieke Kaptein assists. It was a professional, controlled win against a Roma side that barely threatened, with Chelsea recording 16 shots to Roma's three.

Half-time changes pay off

Head coach Sonia Bompastor made bold changes at the break, replacing Lauren James and Alyssa Thompson, and the switch paid off within six minutes of the restart. Carpenter, on for Thompson, burst into the box and met Kaptein's cut-back with a shot that squeezed under goalkeeper Rachele Baldi. Chelsea had dominated the first half without scoring, with Thompson hitting the crossbar early on and Baldi denying James, but the breakthrough settled the contest. Roma's best chance of a leveller came in the 80th minute, when Alayah Pilgrim powered a shot over after dancing past Lucy Bronze.

Top for now

Buchanan sealed the points late on, rising to head home Kaptein's cross from a short corner for her second goal involvement of the night in defence. The win put Chelsea a point clear at the summit ahead of Barcelona's match against HB Køge on Thursday, so top spot may prove temporary, but an unbeaten start with three league-phase fixtures remaining is a strong position. Chelsea's remaining fixtures in the phase are against Häcken, Paris Saint-Germain and OH Leuven, and on this form they will expect to stay firmly in the qualification race.

Sources: Sky Sports, FotMob, AllFootball.