Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor was critical of the officials as Chelsea lost 3-1 against Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie.
Goals from Stina Blackstenius, Chloe Kelly, and Alessia Russo secured the win for Arsenal in-front of their home fans, but Lauren James’s wonder strike gave Chelsea a glimmer of hope ahead of the second leg.
Veerle Buurman’s 36th-minute header was controversially disallowed for a foul on Laia Codina.
Chelsea had a further goal ruled out in the closing stages of the match, seeing them head back to Stamford Bridge with a two-goal deficit.
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The controversial moment
With the game at 2-0 to Arsenal, Chelsea, having already hit the post twice in the opening stages, were looking to get on the front foot.
In the 36th minute, Sandy Baltimore’s free-kick met the head of 19-year-old Buurman.
The young defender out-jumped Codina at the back-post to nod home an important goal for the visitors.
However, the goal was instantly disallowed by the on-field referee for an alleged foul on the Spaniard.
VAR checked and cleared the decision, must to the dismay of Bompastor, her players, and the travelling fans.
The contact was soft, and the decision was controversial.
Bompastor’s frustration
Speaking about the moment, Bompastor said: “I don’t see, with the VAR, how you can disallow that goal.
“That’s a shame to be honest. It is what it is and it’s nothing we can control… we need to really find solutions.
“When you are playing a quarter-final of the Champions League, you need to respect the women’s game.
“You need to respect the players. They work hard every week to put a good performance on the pitch.
“For sure, the first goal is a goal.”
She was asked by the press about the communication she received from the officials during the review process.
“Nothing. It’s always the same,” Bompastor said.
“You go to them and ask them to check they made the right decision, they always say ‘yeah, we are checking,’ but they made the wrong decision.”
A fixture of previous controversy
This isn’t the first time this season that Arsenal v Chelsea has been clouded by controversial officiating.
In their Women’s Super League meeting at the Emirates in November, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw that could’ve ended with a very different scoreline.
Alyssa Thompson opened the scoring for Chelsea before Russo bagged a late equaliser to seal a point for Arsenal.
Frida Maanum thought she’d scored the winner for the Gunners just minutes later, but the goal was ruled out for a very tight offside call.
Earlier in the match, Blackstenius had the ball in the back of the net, only for the referee to judge the Swedish striker to have used her hand in the build-up.
The replays clearly showed the ball to bounce off her leg.
In the same match, Arsenal’s Victoria Pelova was lucky to escape a red card for a high challenge on Kiera Walsh.
All of these controversial decisions just go to show that the standard of officiating in the women’s game still has a long way to go.
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