Chelsea's Women's Super League title defence began with a stumble as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, a result that has reignited questions over the champions' finishing in front of goal.
Despite an overwhelming attacking performance, Sonia Bompastor's side could not turn dominance into victory. Chelsea registered 34 shots in total, their highest tally in a WSL match since the start of last season, and managed 57 touches in the Villa penalty area with 23 shots from inside the box. They also struck the crossbar and had a second goal disallowed for offside, yet still failed to hold onto three points.
Lauren James gave Chelsea an early lead, curling a fine strike into the top corner inside 11 minutes to send an early warning to Villa. For long spells afterwards, the visitors struggled to get near their own goal, managing just five touches in Chelsea's box across the entire match. Katie McCabe, who joined Chelsea from Arsenal over the summer, also impressed on her debut for her new club.
However, with 11 minutes left to play, Villa snatched an equaliser against the run of play. A shot from Noelle Maritz cannoned off goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and deflected in off Chelsea defender Veerle Buurman, silencing the home crowd and handing Natalia Arroyo's side an unlikely point.
Speaking after the match, McCabe admitted the outcome was hard to accept given how the team had started. "We started really well. We wanted to start with energy and create opportunities but at this level, we need to be more clinical," she told BBC Sport. "We're frustrated to drop points at home. We're not going to panic - it's the start of the season. We'll look to rectify next week. But we're disappointed. It's not Chelsea standards to drop points at home."
Bompastor echoed that frustration, pointing out how misleading the scoreline was in relation to the run of play. "If you analyse the performance and the statistics, then you would say it's crazy that we didn't win. We created so many opportunities," she said. "The reality of football is that if we were two or three nil up then the game is over. It's a completely different game in the second half. We have to speed up the game, keep that momentum and sustain that. We need to make sure we accelerate to kill the game. That is not what happened today. At the end, we are all frustrated because it's not a good result."
Chelsea's attacking options were notably thin, with summer arrival Melvine Malard sidelined by a minor training injury and Mayra Ramirez still working her way back to full fitness. England forward Aggie Beever-Jones led the line in their absence but struggled to convert her chances, eventually finding the net only for the effort to be chalked off for offside.
Bompastor conceded that resolving the issue may prove difficult, describing it as as much a mental challenge as a tactical one. "What can we do in this scenario? We have to stay confident, stick together and work hard," she said. "In football some of these things are mental. It's the mentality - the mindset of being ruthless and clinical in the box. The best teams don't need many opportunities. They just need one or two and maybe that's enough to win the game. That is something we need to work on."
The result echoes a pattern from last season, when Chelsea finished third in the WSL despite beating eventual champions Manchester City in their opening fixture. A string of draws, including this latest one, compounded by a shock defeat at Everton in December that ended a 585-day unbeaten run, ultimately cost them the title race. In that loss, Chelsea also dominated statistically, enjoying 79% possession and 30 shots while striking the woodwork three times.
Former England striker Ellen White, speaking on BBC One, stressed the importance of converting dominance into results. "You should be able to convert those chances. In the first half, they had chance after chance," she said. "To go for the title you have to score and get points on the board. This is two points dropped. Last season, they only dropped six points at home."
Bompastor believes the return of key attacking players will help improve Chelsea's conversion rate as the season progresses, while acknowledging the psychological side of the issue may take longer to fix. "Some things are easier to coach and other things are more difficult," she said. "The mindset you can improve, but you have to have a killer instinct and desire inside. We need to stay together and a lot of this is keeping the confidence. We just need to analyse all these things to help the players be confident for the next game."
Elsewhere in the WSL, defending champions Manchester City opened their title defence at home to newly-promoted Birmingham City, while Arsenal - among the favourites to challenge Chelsea this season - travelled to Brighton. London City Lionesses had already made an impression on the opening weekend with a win over Manchester United.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.