Bompastor calls for more ‘respect’ as Russo puts Arsenal in control of WCL tie

Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea head coach, said the women’s game needs to be shown “more respect” after the decision to rule out Veerle Buurman’s goal in the first half of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final was not overturned by the video assistant referee.

Buurman leapt and nodded in and looked to have halved the hosts’ lead, but the referee, Alina Pesu, ­immediately ruled out the effort for a ­perceived foul on Laia Codina and the VAR did not deem it a clear and obvious error.

It was an incredibly soft decision, with Codina not jumping to challenge for the ball and Buurman’s hands on her shoulders as she rose to head in.

“It’s always more difficult to complain about the decisions when you’ve lost the game but to be ­honest, it’s not good enough,” said Bompastor.

“We really need to find solutions. In the quarter-final of the ­Champions League you need to respect the ­women’s game more, you need to respect the players more, because they work hard every week to put in a good performance on the pitch. For sure, the first goal is a goal. I don’t see with the VAR how you cannot allow that goal. That’s a shame, to be honest.”

The Chelsea manager was also frustrated late on, when her side had another effort ruled out, although that one was less controversial, with Kadeisha Buchanan having ploughed her foot into the goalkeeper Anneke Borbe as she put the ball over the line.

Asked about what they get told when these decisions are made, Bompastor said: “Nothing, nothing. It’s always the same. When you go to them and you ask them to check the situation to make sure they make the right decision, they just always say: ‘Yeah, we are checking’, but they made the wrong decision and ­nothing changed. To be honest, when a human makes a mistake I think you can understand it a little bit more than when there is the VAR – that’s really difficult.”

She added the women’s game “deserves the best referees” from the men’s or women’s games and the “right people” checking decisions via VAR.

The Frenchwoman was right to feel aggrieved by the decision to rule out Buurman’s effort. Chelsea were ­battling and resilient at the Emirates Stadium, twice ­seeing the ball come back off the inside of the same post in the opening 10 minutes through Lauren James and Alyssa Thompson, but Arsenal settled soon after and took control. A Stina Blackstenius header and an impressive long-range effort from Chloe Kelly made it 2-0 going into the second half and the deficit was ­eventually reduced through a moment of magic from James, who picked up the ball after a corner from the right was nodded away by Beth Mead, took a touch, picked her spot and curled a dipping effort into the top corner from 20 yards.

The quality of the goals was a highlight. Alessia Russo’s effort to restore the home team’s two-goal cushion was also sublime.

The forward spun the ball up from her feet with her first touch and powered it in with her second, following a pass from Blackstenius, for her eighth Champions League goal of the season.

“She’s so good – with different finishes, from close, from further out, volleys, different angles – she’s really, really good,” said Renée Slegers. “What you see now is that when she gets into the right spaces with the right timing she has so much ­conviction in what she’s doing and I think that’s what’s taken her to another level.”

Arsenal are riding high in a competition they showed last season they can go all the way in, and they take a two-goal lead into the second leg at Stamford Bridge next week but the tie is far from over.

Last season the Blues overturned a two-goal deficit against Manchester City at the same stage by winning 3-0 at home. This is a depleted Chelsea squad though, one that showed up with a strong starting XI but a weak bench with four teenagers (Gabriella Storey, 16, Chloe Sarwie, 17, Lois Shooter, 18, and Lexi Potter, 19) alongside Ellie Carpenter, who was fresh off a flight back from Australia after the Asia Cup final.

In this context, Chelsea’s two dropped points against London City Lionesses on Saturday was less of a shock, and their dominant League Cup final win over Manchester United a week prior and their performance against Arsenal here were both hugely impressive and can give them a boost before the second leg.

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