James nets stunning brace as Chelsea thrash Brighton to extend WSL lead.

James scores two spectacular goals as

Chelsea defeats Brighton to expand its WSL lead.Lauren James scored once more as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 road victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Fran Kirby and James each contributed one goal as Emma Hayes’ squad increased their advantage to six points atop the Women’s Super League standings. A day after joining the club from Levante, Mayra Ramirez made her début, providing Chelsea with an additional boost up front.By virtue of Lauren James’ eleventh and twelfth goals of the season, Chelsea extended their lead atop the Women’s Super League to six points with a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Together with Fran Kirby, the England international scored all three goals during a dominant 20-minute stretch in the second half to seal the victory.James, who scored a hat-trick in their previous league match against Manchester United, broke the deadlock seconds after the resumption with a goal-of-the-season contender.

James directed a cross from Niamh Charles in the direction of the goal with his debut attempt, deflecting the ball past Sophie Baggaley and into the upper left corner.

Five minutes later, Chelsea scored their second goal when Kirby nodded in from close range.

The visitors launched in a corner kick towards the near post, which was only partially cleared by Brighton’s Melanie Leupolz, who returned the ball for Kirby to complete.

James scored an additional outstanding goal at the hour mark to secure the victory for the visiting team.Once more, Brighton were unable to clear their lines, this time it was Guro Reiten’s cross that found James in an ideal position to convert a low, driven effort into the bottom-left corner.

Chelsea’s prospects of securing their fifth consecutive WSL championship were further enhanced with the debut of new signing Mayra Ramirez, who replaced James.

Ramirez joined the Blues on Friday for a British record-setting £385,000 from Spanish club Levante.

As a replacement for striker Sam Kerr, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury earlier this month, the Colombian was inked.