'Frustration' and 'anger' as ref drama overshadows Arsenal, Man City ties

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Arsenal let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with Paris FC, while Man City were held 1-1 by Real Madrid, who had a late effort ruled out after City forward Beth Mead collided with the referee shortly before the ball went into the net.

The Gunners were left frustrated at not only allowing Paris back into the game, but also the bizarre manner of a penalty given against them.

With Arsenal leading 2-1 late on, the referee awarded Paris a penalty after defender Leah Williamson was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box.

Williamson had stopped the ball with her hand from a pass from goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, thinking the goal-kick had not been taken, and she was instead going to take it.

But as the ball had been stopped and was on the pitch, it was deemed that Rodriguez had already taken the goal-kick and so Williamson was penalised for handball.

Arsenal manager Renee Slegers did not attend her post-match press conference following the draw, but assistant coach Aaron D'Antino said he thought the penalty call was wrong.

"The way that the game ends is incredibly disappointing," D'Antino said. "We didn't think it was a penalty, we don't think the goal-kick had actually been taken for what we had seen."

However, under International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules, the penalty award was the correct decision.

The rules state: "In goal-kick restarts, if the ball is stationary within the goal area and is kicked by any defending player, the goal-kick is considered to have been taken.

"If, after the ball is in play, [a player] commits a handball offence, a penalty kick is awarded if the offence occurred inside the kicker's penalty area."

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But earlier that year, Arsenal's Gabriel escaped punishment against Bayern Munich in the Champions League when he picked up the ball following a pass from goalkeeper David Raya in the box.

Thomas Tuchel, who was Bayern head coach at the time, said it was a "huge mistake" by the referee.

WSL champions City were perhaps fortunate to escape with a draw after Madrid had a late goal chalked off in their 1-1 draw.

After falling behind in the first half, City equalised after the break through Khadija Shaw.

Madrid thought they had taken the lead again in the 89th minute when Silvia Cristobal fired into the net.

But the whistle had gone moments earlier after Man City's Mead had collided with referee Silvia Gasperotti on the edge of the box.

The goal was therefore ruled out, much to the annoyance of Madrid manager Pau Quesada.

"You can't have a referee standing in such a place where you're in the way of attacking moves," Quesada said.

"My biggest anger isn't at the action of the player or the block of Mead, it's the problem that you work hard for these situations, Silvia deserved the goal, we deserve the three points, but the biggest kind of source of frustration for me is the positioning of the referee.

"And at this highest level, they shouldn't be right in the middle of the play there on the edge of the area.

"I've got a lot of experience in football, and everything has to be top level in my profession.

"When you get to this top level of women's club football in Europe, you need to have refereeing worthy of that level."

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