Emma Hayes felt her Chelsea side had been “robbed” after they were held 2-2 at Real Madrid in their Champions League opener.
In a contest with no VAR in operation, Real equalised through a 79th-minute Olga Carmona penalty awarded by referee Frida Klarlund for a Jessie Fleming challenge on Athenea del Castillo – which Hayes had no doubt took place outside the box.
The Chelsea manager was also unhappy about Niamh Charles’ finish being disallowed in stoppage time, seemingly for offside, stressing that Charles had been onside and Sam Kerr had not interfered with goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez.
Hayes told reporters in Spain: “I could see from the bench that the tackle (for the penalty decision) was outside the box. So I’m absolutely shocked that those managing the game couldn’t see that.
“Of course maybe Jessie shouldn’t lunge in that area, but it happens clearly outside the box. At this level when you are in control of a game and important decisions like that go against you, it makes it difficult.”
Regarding the stoppage-time incident, she added: “We score a really legitimate goal with Niamh Charles three or four yards onside.
“It is embarrassing. I had to check why it was disallowed. Was it Niamh? No. Was it Sam (Kerr) interfering with the goalkeeper? She was about seven yards away, no way near the keeper.
“I cannot understand the decision whatsoever. I think we’ve been robbed of what was a 3-1 game.
“You can’t (ask the referee for clarity at full-time). You’re not allowed to speak to the officials. Can’t speak to them there (on the pitch), can’t speak about it here (to the media).
“For me I am going to focus on the performance, I can only control that. Everybody saw the decisions, you don’t need me to comment on them any further.”
Real took the lead at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium through a deflected 10th-minute shot from Carmona – scorer of Spain’s winner against England in the summer’s World Cup final – before Chelsea hit back through two headers, Charles equalising in the 41st minute and then setting up Kerr in the 74th.
After Carmona levelled from the spot, Lauren James hit the crossbar before the late disallowed effort as the visitors were unable to secure a winning start to what is to be their final Champions League campaign before Hayes leaves at the end of the season for the United States job.
Hayes said: “I think the performance was well controlled by us, especially away from home in Europe. We had so much more of the ball and it was comfortable.
“(There was) just a tactical adjustment that we had to make (at half-time) – the pivots weren’t carrying out a small detail there. Overall it had to be better in the final third, either the last pass or whatever it might have been.
“I think the team did better with that (in the second half). We hit the bar as well, we should have scored from that. We had chances, so we should be disappointed with ourselves.
“I can’t remember the last time we were in a game like that when two humongous decisions like that have gone against us – that is a lot tonight.”
Wednesday’s earlier game in Group D saw Paris FC – who Chelsea play in their next pool game at Stamford Bridge next Thursday – beaten 2-1 at home by Swedish side BK Hacken.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
