Malard's Dream Debut for Chelsea in Champions League

Melvine Malard needed 12 minutes to turn a tight European tie into a statement. By full-time, Chelsea’s new No 9 had two goals, a roaring home crowd behind her and Real Sociedad on the brink of elimination.

The France forward, a summer signing from Manchester United for about £850,000, came off the bench with the first leg of this Champions League third qualifying round delicately poised at 2-2. She left it at 5-2 and with Chelsea already looking like they belong back among the continent’s elite.

Shock start, swift response

Sonia Bompastor’s first competitive game in charge of Chelsea could hardly have started worse. Seven minutes into the season, Ainhoa Marin silenced the Cherry Red Records Stadium with a stunning opener, curling from the edge of the box into the top corner to give Sociedad a 1-0 lead.

The goal rattled Chelsea, but it also woke them up.

On the half-hour, their captain dragged them level. Naomi Girma, another of the summer arrivals, rose to meet a corner from Katie McCabe and powered in a header. McCabe, signed after leaving Arsenal, delivered the kind of dead ball Chelsea have built title runs on in years gone by.

The equaliser reset the tone. Chelsea began to pin Sociedad back, the eight-time Women’s Super League champions starting to look like themselves again.

Set-piece strength, Spanish resistance

Early in the second half, that pressure told from another corner. This time Lauren James swung the ball in and Dutch defender Veerle Buurman attacked it, thumping her header home to put Chelsea 2-1 up.

That should have settled them. Instead, Sociedad bit back.

Cecilia Marcos struck to haul the visitors level at 2-2, punishing Chelsea’s lapse and briefly turning the evening edgy again. For a few minutes, the tie felt wide open, the Spanish side sensing an away result that could have changed the complexion of next week’s return leg.

Then Bompastor turned to her bench. On came Malard.

Malard takes over

Her impact was immediate and ruthless.

After 12 minutes on the pitch, Sjoeke Nüsken slid a clever pass in behind the Sociedad back line. Malard timed her run, rounded goalkeeper Julia Arrula with composure and rolled the ball into an empty net. A finish that looked simple only because she made it so.

Chelsea had their lead back at 3-2 and, with it, their swagger.

James added the fourth, squeezing her name onto the scoresheet in between Malard’s strikes as the home side began to run away with it. Sociedad, so sharp in the opening stages, suddenly looked stretched and tired.

The final word still belonged to Malard.

In the 88th minute, full-back Ellie Carpenter burst down the flank and drilled a low cross into the box. Malard arrived in the right place, at the right time, and tapped in her second of the night. A poacher’s goal, a perfect debut, and a 5-2 cushion to take to Spain.

Big lead, bigger season ahead

The second leg in Spain on Wednesday, 2 September (18:00 BST) now looks less like a trap and more like a chance to manage the tie, three days before Chelsea open their WSL campaign against Aston Villa.

This season brings a new rhythm off the pitch as well. Chelsea will play their home domestic cup ties and European league-phase fixtures at Wimbledon’s Cherry Red Records Stadium, while all WSL home games move to Stamford Bridge.

On this evidence, wherever they play, Malard and Bompastor’s Chelsea intend to make themselves at home in Europe again.