Sonia Bompastor had wanted to see more efficiency from her team after their 1-0 victory against Aston Villa on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season; at Crystal Palace she got just that, a 7-0 demolition ensuring there was absolutely no chance of nervy moments late on.

“In a high-level game, when you are not able to get the second goal, you just give more confidence to the opposition,” Bompastor had said after the defeat of Villa, in which the opposition goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo had tested Hannah Hampton late on. It took Chelsea until deep into the first half to take the lead against newly promoted Palace, but the second goal arrived soon after, Lucy Bronze scoring her first in a Chelsea shirt to ensure any confidence Palace might take from the narrow deficit was well and truly quashed. Then Lauren James added a third, Guro Reiten a fourth, Nathalie Björn a fifth, Reiten a sixth and Catarina Macario a seventh.

It was an impressive turnout for Selhurst Park’s WSL debut, 5,003 fans providing a lively atmosphere for the visit of the title holders.

Following their messy 4-0 defeat by Tottenham, Palace’s Laura Kaminski made two changes, both enforced, with Brooke Aspin and Lexi Potter ineligible for the visit of their parent club, with the former also serving a suspension. In their stead first starts were handed to summer recruits Lily Woodham and Ann My Cato.

Meanwhile, Aggie Beever-Jones, James and Björn all returned to the start XI for Chelsea. Bompastor had praised her opposite, Kaminski, in the buildup to the meeting of the south London sides. “I watched the game against Tottenham,” she said. “The result was severe, but I felt that it didn’t reflect the performance.”

There were positive signs against Tottenham but there was also a lot to fix, and the first half against Chelsea was far more impressive. Palace were focused and well-drilled, a back five employed to soak up the pressure, but they were also tenacious in possession, let down by the slower thinking and physical inferiority that is inherent in teams moving up to the top division. Indiah-Paige Riley almost gave them a shock lead, leaping on to a lax pass out from Hampton before forcing a blush-sparing save from the goalkeeper.

It was 38 minutes before the champions made the breakthrough and it was a sucker punch. Fliss Gibbons was unable to get on the end of a ball through the middle at one end and Chelsea punished them, a searching ball from the back found last week’s goalscorer Johanna Rytting Kaneryd on the right and she pulled it back for Beever-Jones to fire in.

The home team were not out of it though, and went agonisingly close shortly before the break, the ball worked across the edge of the box with the crowd screaming at each player to shoot before Riley’s ball in was flicked goalwards by Annabel Blanchard, but it trickled wide of the far post.

Chances against the champions are rare and must be taken. Instead, the visiting team extended their lead to make for a less nervous second half than the one suffered against Villa. The second goal came three minutes after the restart when Palace failed to clear Ashley Lawrence’s cross and the ball landed kindly for Bronze, who arrived from the right and side-footed it first time into the far corner.

With Palace’s resolve broken and legs tiring, Chelsea’s third was not long in coming. Beever-Jones provided for the substitute Mayra Ramírez whose low cross across the face of goal was turned in by James.

The visiting team’s fourth was like the first, in that it came straight after Palace went close to pulling one back, Katie Stengel sending an effort wide before, at the other end, Macario found Wieke Kaptein who flicked it on for Reiten to turn in.

The fifth arrived from a corner, Macario’s delivery evading everyone and turned in by Björn at the back post ahead of the defender Katrine Veje, Reiten scored her second for the sixth and Macario fired in late on for the seventh.

It was comfortable for Chelsea in the end, far more so than the first half suggested. However, the gap between the WSL and Championship is a large one, building up to the top level’s mental pace and physical intensity taking time. Time promoted teams don’t really have. Palace have work to do, but results against the top three will not be the measure of a successful season.