Arsenal and Chelsea’s 1-1 draw delivers spice, controversy and WSL drama
A tough day for the match officials overshadows an entertaining London derby
Arsenal held league leaders Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates in a game full of drama and controversy.
Referee Mel Burgin became the main character of Saturday’s derby and was loudly booed off after two Arsenal goals were ruled out in the second half.
Chelsea had initially silenced the 56,000-strong crowd when Alyssa Thompson put them into an early lead. But after wasting several chances in the first and second half, Renee Slegers’s team would find their feet and hit back.
Arsenal initially thought they had an equaliser in the 54th minute when Stina Blackstenius smashed a shot into the roof of the net from a corner. However, the referee somehow spotted a handball from the Swedish forward and the goal was ruled out, much to the anger of the Emirates crowd and Arsenal bench.
The replay showed that the ball had hit Blackstenius’ thigh as she moved her hand. It wasn’t the only error from the referee from that phase of play, as the initial corner looked as if it shouldn’t have been awarded after the ball came off an Arsenal player before going out of play.
The frustration did help energise Arsenal, who had a point to prove now their equaliser had been snatched away. They piled on the pressure and the chances continued to come.
Much like Chelsea’s 2-1 victory at the Emirates last season, the champions were clinging on for dear life as the game headed towards full-time.
Eventually, Arsenal would find their equaliser, Alessia Russo squeezing a shot past Hampton from substitute Frida Maanum’s ball into the box. Chelsea only had themselves to blame after those missed chances and poor defending. To make matters worse for the officials, replays showed that Russo was in an offside position.
It wasn’t the last of the drama to come, as Arsenal tore away for a counter-attack in the 90th minute, Maanum had the ball in the back of the net but it was flagged for offside. Replays showed she looked to be behind Chelsea left-back Niamh Charles. Rounding off a tough day for referee Burgin and her staff.
In the end, the points were shared, and both teams will feel disappointed they didn’t have all three.
What defined Arsenal’s game?
Poor officiating. I’m never one to throw too much focus on bad refereeing or demand the use of the video assistant refereeing in the WSL. That being said, this is a game where Slegers and Bompastor can both feel very hard done by.
However, the Arsenal manager will feel more frustrated after video replays showed that Blackstenius’ goal shouldn’t have been ruled out for handball as it had hit her thigh. That, coupled with Maanum’s goal that was flagged for offside and seemingly shouldn’t have been, Slegers will feel maybe this was a game that was taken out of her hands. Of course, the Gunners did have a slice of fortune on their equaliser.
The Arsenal manager acknowledged afterwards that the angle she saw of the Maanum offside was still unclear.
The poor decisions didn’t just impact Arsenal on Saturday. There was a poor challenge from Victoria Pelova on Keira Walsh that could have been a red card but was only a yellow. The corner that led to Blackstenius’ non-equaliser should also have been a goal kick as the ball had come off an Arsenal player.
“We need justice”
Both managers called for VAR in the WSL in their post-match interviews and it’s clear to see why.
Slegers said: “Referees need to make decisions and it’s really hard. But at the moment, if you ask me and I think in a game like this, we need just decisions, we need justice. And that’s where I think VAR technology can come”.
Bompastor added: “I think bringing the technology into the women’s game would probably be the best call we could make.”
What defined Chelsea’s game?
Missed chances. Sonia Bompastor’s side could have been several goals clear in the first and second halves, but wasted several opportunities.
They regularly exploited space on Arsenal’s left side, with Rytting Kaneryd and Bronze creating overlapping runs and causing Arsenal problems. Thompson’s goal came from a similar opportunity that Chelsea had created just minutes earlier, but hadn’t capitalised on.
It was more of the same at the start of the second half, with Catarina Macario and Wieke Kaptein coming close to scoring.
Chelsea finished the game having hit the woodwork twice, with two big chances, five shots on target, and an xG of 2.05. In the end, they just about got away with it, which has been a theme of their season. Bompastor needs to ensure her side sees off games before the opposition wrestles back control.
What next?
Manchester United are the real losers today as their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa means they can’t capitalise on Chelsea’s dropped points.
Chelsea are five points clear of Arsenal and three points ahead of United as we’re now eight games into the WSL season. If Manchester City beat Everton on Sunday, they’ll go top of the WSL, so perhaps they’ve benefited the most from this 1-1 draw.