Photo: Raph_PH / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Chelsea opened their pre-season tour with a dominant 7-0 victory over Auckland FC at Eden Park on Saturday, with Aggie Beever-Jones scoring a hat-trick inside 25 minutes.
Beever-Jones broke the deadlock after 10 minutes with a low finish into the bottom corner, added a second from a Sjoeke Nusken reverse pass, and completed her hat-trick from close range midway through the first half. Sandy Baltimore then made it 4-0 before the interval, finishing after a brilliant run into the box.
Bompastor made four changes at half-time, and new signing Giulia Dragoni marked her Chelsea debut with a goal shortly after the restart. The Italian international pounced after Alyssa Thompson's shot was charged down to net with a clinical finish in the 55th minute.
Maika Hamano added a sixth with a diving header from a Mayra Ramirez layoff on the hour mark, before Ramirez herself completed the scoring in the 85th minute, driving powerfully through a crowd of players.
The result gave head coach Sonia Bompastor, now in her third season at the club, valuable match minutes ahead of Chelsea's next pre-season fixture against an A-League All-Stars side in Sydney on Wednesday 12 August.