The Women’s Continental League Cup began yesterday with 11 matches and 47 goals.

Chelsea began their title defence against the club they beat in the final last season, Arsenal, and dealt them a thundering 4-1 defeat.

The Blues’ captain Magdalena Eriksson opened the scoring in the fifth minute through a powerful header but Arensal’s Caitlin Foord equalised two minutes later with a beautiful strike from outside the box.

Chelsea then turned up the heat as Guro Reiten scored two goals in the space of ten minutes and so after 16 minutes had past in the fixture, the score stood at 3-1.

Despite rallying efforts from the Gunners they could not convert their chances for the rest of the match.

Emma Hayes’ outfit then had to wait until the 90th minute to score again after substitute Beth England scored her 50th goal as a Blue.

Meanwhile, Liverpool stunned Manchester United to beat them 3-1.

United went ahead first in the 27th through an Abbie McManus header but the Reds hit back quickly as Rachel Furness took a penalty after Jane Ross handballed.

A second half substitution then invigorated the hosts as Rinsola Babajide injected pace into their attack. She scored Liverpool’s second penalty, given after Jade Clarke was brought down in the box by Millie Turner.

Furness then secured her club the victory as she headed in a corner kick by Missy Bo Kearns.

Manchester City ended Everton’s winning start to the season as they completed a 3-1 win over the Toffees.

Everton scored first through Danielle Turner but City battled back as Rose Lavelle secured her first goal for City.

This was followed up with a goal from Chloe Kelly and the victory was sealed as Jess Park scored through a skilful touch.

Other results: Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 London City, Durham 5-2 Coventry United, Bristol City 4-0 London Bees, Brighton and Hove Albion 2-2 (2-4 penalties) West Ham, Reading 4-0 Charlton, Aston Villa 1-0 Sheffield United, Lewes 1-2 Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Birmingham City