Sonia Bompastor lauded the “magic” touch of Lauren James after the Chelsea star’s stoppage-time winner against Everton on Sunday.
Chelsea seemed set to drop points for just the second time this Women’s Super League campaign, until James fired into the bottom corner from 25 yards in the 93rd minute.
Mayra Ramirez had earlier cancelled out Kelly Gago’s 51st-minute opener for Everton as Chelsea looked set to not claim all three points for the first time since their 1-1 draw with Leicester City in December.
However, James stepped up as the hero with a strike that kissed the woodwork on the way in, much to the delight of Chelsea head coach Bompastor.
“I have already said a lot about LJ, her potential and all of her talents,” Bompastor said. “If we didn’t have her on the pitch until the end, we couldn’t have won the game. That’s simple.
“You need to have these creative players and players with these talents to win games. She just showed her magic.
“She has been able to play two 90-minute games, so she’s getting back to really good shape.
“She also defended a lot for the team and that’s also something we’ve been talking about together to make sure she works really hard for the team.”
LAUREN JAMES IN STOPPAGE TIME! #CFCW pic.twitter.com/mxc55R5tSG
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 16, 2025
The win kept Chelsea seven points clear at the WSL summit, having recorded their 26th win across their last 27 matches in all competitions.
“Sometimes it’s good for emotions, even for the fans or the players, to live those emotions,” Bompastor added.
“You have to fight until the end. As you can see from the beginning of the season, sometimes I do not have a lot of reactions on the goals and everything. But, this one, I reacted a bit more.”
It was the second time in a week that Everton had taken the lead before falling to Chelsea, who came from behind to win 4-1 in their FA Cup meeting before this fixture.
For Bompastor, there was a sense of “deja vu”, though the ever-reliant Blues once again found a way to win and keep their hopes of an unbeaten WSL season alive.
“We knew in transition Everton could hurt us. When we try sometimes to push and score a goal, we leave more space and they had the opportunity to exploit the space,” she continued.
“They had a good performance and they came back [from the FA Cup game last weekend] with another mindset and quality out of possession.
“It’s deja vu because it’s the same case as last week [coming from a goal down]. Today, again, we believed it was possible to come back and win this game. This is what I’m most pleased with.”
