Advantage Arsenal after frantic and controversial Champions League quarter-final first leg against Chelsea
Arsenal claim 3-1 win at Emirates but VAR controversy overshadows entertaining encounter
For the second time this season, officiating became the main story of an Arsenal-Chelsea fixture as a controversial disallowed goal overshadowed the Uefa Women’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Arsenal secured a 3-1 advantage at the Emirates after goals from Stina Blackstenius, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo. But it was a Chelsea goal late in the first period that became the main story of the night.
In the 40th minute, with Chelsea trailing, defender Veerle Buurman rose above Arsenal’s Laia Codina to head home a corner, and seemingly pull her side back into the tie. Just after the ball went in, referee Alina Pesu blew her whistle to signal for a foul. The goal was reviewed by VAR Ovidiu Hategan, who confirmed the referee’s decision, much to the anger and confusion of Chelsea’s players and Sonia Bompastor.
There was no contact from Buurman on Codina, with the young Dutch defender managing to rise highest to the ball. Given that VAR was in play in this game, it’s even more astounding that the review wasn’t used to overturn what looked like a clear error.
It’s not the first time a game between these two sides has been overshadowed by referee controversy. Earlier this season, Arsenal were disallowed two goals in a WSL fixture against Chelsea, and the incident sparked repeated calls for the use of VAR in the WSL. Tuesday night’s game showed just how the tool still can’t solve the bigger problem in the women’s game: poor officiating.
A game of back and forths
Outside of the refereeing flashpoint, this game had plenty of shifts in momentum on the pitch.
Chelsea started the brighter side, with Alyssa Thompson and Lauren James finding space and hitting strikes onto the post in the first 10 minutes of the game. The latter should have really put Chelsea in front when she skipped past several Arsenal defenders and found herself staring down Anneke Borbe’s goal. She couldn’t find the right angle and ended up hitting the same post Thompson had crashed just minutes earlier.
It wasn’t until the 15th minute that Arsenal really got on the ball and into the game, but once they took their chance, Chelsea looked wounded.
Defending set-pieces has been a struggle for Bompastor’s team all season, and they were exposed on Tuesday night when Stina Blackstenius was allowed to guide in a Katie McCabe free kick with the softest of touches in the 22nd minute.
Arsenal would grab their second 10 minutes later, this time it was a pinpoint Kelly finish that perhaps Hannah Hampton could have done better to keep out.
Bompastor clearly used the refereeing controversy to fire up her side at the start of the second half, as Chelsea came out aggressively at the beginning of the second 45.
It was James who looked the most likely to make something happen, and she did, in spectacular fashion, curling in a ridiculous effort from outside the box in the 66th minute. However, Arsenal would restore their two-goal cushion 10 minutes later when Alessia Russo delivered a great strike past Hampton.
There was more referee drama to come just before stoppage time, this time it was a Kadeisha Buchanan goal that was ruled out from the corner, with Buchanan making contact on Borbe from the follow-through of her shot, pushing the young keeper into the goal net. The referee signalled for a foul, which still enraged Bompastor, even though it was the right call.
In an interview with Disney+ after the game, Lucy Bronze voiced her frustration with the referee’s decision, saying: “I don’t think any single player on the pitch thought that was a foul to be honest, apart from the ref. But I think as soon as the ref gave it, VAR are not going to overturn it.
“And it was disappointing because I feel like we could have swung the momentum back a little bit and then it just took a little bit longer. It would have been an important goal to score at half time. And I think we probably could have got even more back into the game in the second half. So, that’s the momentum of games and how it goes. It’s just disappointing.”
Bompastor added in her post-match conference: “It’s really frustrating. Again, it’s always more difficult to complain about the referees when you’ve lost the game. But to be honest it’s not good enough. We really need to find solutions. When you’re playing in the quarter-finals 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 performance on the pitch.
“For sure the first goal is a goal, I don’t see with the VAR how you can disallow that goal. That’s a shame to be honest”.
She also mentioned she wanted women’s football to “bring the best” referees and “competence” for the biggest competitions.
With no love lost again between these two sides, we’re going to do it all again for the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 1 April.