Olga Carmona’s controversial penalty denied dominant Chelsea a deserved opening-game Women’s Champions League win with a 2-2 draw at Real Madrid.
Carmona’s equaliser 11 minutes from time came after Athenea del Castillo was fouled by Jessie Fleming – though the offending touch clearly occurred outside the box.
Without VAR available, Frida Klarlund’s on-field decision was left to stand, to deny the Blues of a much-deserved win in the Spanish capital.
Their disappointment was further added to with almost the last kick of the game. Niamh Charles saw what would have been her second goal of the night and the winner ruled out for reasons that were unclear in the immediate aftermath.
Chelsea fell behind early on to Carmona’s deflected strike, which took a significant nick off captain Milly Bright to wrong-foot Ann-Katrin Berger.
But from then on, they found their rhythm and were soon in full control. Sam Kerr tested Misa Rodriguez before Charles’ powerful header pulled the Blues level on the stroke of half-time.
They continued to take the game to their hosts after the break but took until the 75th minute to finally find a way through, when Charles’ inviting cross was nodded home by Kerr.
Their lead only lasted four minutes before Fleming’s clumsy foul was given a harsher punishment than it deserved when Klarlund pointed to the spot, and Carmona doubled her tally for the night.
There was still more drama to follow. Charles were denied a winner deep into added time, when her 96th-minute strike was pulled back for a raised flag, though there was still confusion by the full-time whistle as to what infraction had taken place to rule out the strike.
More to follow…
What’s next?
Chelsea now have three home games before the international break. They are next in action on Saturday as they host Liverpool in the WSL at Stamford Bridge.
Their second Champions League group fixture is on Thursday November 23 when they host Paris FC, before host Leicester on Sunday November 26.