Chelsea marked Keira Walsh's first start for the club with a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham to seal their spot in the Subway Cup final.
Walsh, who joined Chelsea on deadline day from Barcelona, will face harder assignments than Wednesday. The England international hardly broke stride in midfield as first-half goals from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nüsken effectively wrapped up the game at the half-hour mark.
Walsh's metronomic performance, particularly in the first half, will whet the appetite of Chelsea fans and put the rest of Europe on alert. She took an already superlative Chelsea side to another level on Wednesday.
"Really pleased to have Keira. She's a top class player. She brings a lot of calmness with the ball in possession and I think serenity in the team, so really good," Sonia Bompastor told a news conference after the game.
"But also, I'm really pleased to have depth in my squad. As I said, having three games a week, it's a big opportunity for everyone to rotate and get minutes. Helps me to keep almost everyone happy. And yeah, having Keira for sure ... it's a big impact and also for her debut, I think she did well. She had a great game even more in the first half with all the team. We were better in the first half."
There was a sprinkling of stardust in the stands too, with United States' Naomi Girma in attendance following her record-breaking move to west London.
The win means Chelsea are now unbeaten in 22 games and into their sixth successive League Cup final, where they will face one of Manchester City or Arsenal.
Chelsea were in control from the get-go, hardly giving West Ham a sniff of the ball.
Such was their dominance that Rytting-Kaneryd's opener in the 20th minute felt almost belated. The Sweden international created space for herself in the box with sharp footwork and lashed in a powerful shot at the near post that Kinga Szemik could only flap at.
The impact of the Walsh-Nusken pivot was immediately evident, with the former Barcelona midfielder's assertive presence at the base of midfield giving Nusken the license to push higher up the field.
The Germany international's goal was a direct reward for her pressing. She intercepted Katrina Gorry's pass across goal, traded passes with Guro Reiten before coolly finishing past Szemik.
West Ham got a stronger foothold on the game after the break but they never looked close to putting a dent into a Chelsea side that are yet to concede a goal in 2025.
Along with reaching the Subway Cup final, Chelsea sit seven points clear at the top of the Women's Super League table and are strong contenders to win the FA Cup and Champions League this season. Bompastor, however, was quick to play down talk of a quadruple.
"I never think like this. I'm more focused on the next game. On Sunday it'll be another cup game [in the FA Cup against Everton]," she said.
"But really happy to be in the final. That's the first step but the reality again is we haven't won anything yet. And if you get to the final but you don't win, it doesn't mean anything. So for me now, the focus is, as I said, making sure we go deep in every competition, as deep as we can, but also game by game."