A dramatic final 15 minutes saw Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor sent off after Sjoeke Nusken had given the Blues late hope of a Women’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg comeback against Arsenal, but the Gunners were 3-2 winners on aggregate.
Nusken’s goal was arguably deserved for Chelsea as they won 1-0 on the night but they were unable to overturn the 3-1 deficit from the first leg as they were left to rue a string of missed chances.
The spark came around the 80th minute when Stina Blackstenius headed home, thinking she had sealed Arsenal’s semi-final place, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside.
Chelsea immediately went up the other end, but Nusken missed the opportunity, having also done so twice in the opening eight minutes.
The Germany international also forced a spectacular save from Daphne van Domselaar in a chaotic quarter of an hour, with the Gunners stopper also keeping out another Lauren James rocket. Veerle Buurman sent the rebound onto the post, after she was denied a goal by VAR in the first leg last week.
Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze (centre) speaks to team-mates after seeing Arsenal have a goal ruled out for offside via VAR
In the fourth of five added minutes at the end of the second half, Nusken fired Chelsea ahead, but the biggest drama was yet to come.
Bompastor had been tetchy with the officials for most of the game, following on from her criticism of VAR to disallow Buurman’s goal for a supposed foul on Laia Codina at the Emirates.
But she was incandescent when Katie McCabe was not penalised for pulling the hair of Alyssa Thompson. Rather than the Arsenal player receiving a yellow card, it was Bompastor who went into the referee’s book.
Less than a minute later, the Chelsea coach tried to pick up the ball quickly from the feet of an Arsenal player and in the melee, encroached on the pitch. That was another yellow and then a red, as she watched the final moments through the plexiglass along the side of the Stamford Bridge tunnel.
Arsenal players applaud the fans after advancing to the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals by beating Chelsea
It was overall a frustrating night for the Blues, who will feel they had more than enough chances to win the game. Thompson, Nusken and Sam Kerr all went close, but it was too little, too late as they exit the Champions League – the one trophy they are yet to win – for another year.
For Arsenal, though, they reach the semi-finals once again as their title defence continues, and will face either Lyon or Wolfsburg, who play their second leg on Thursday evening.
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