Slegers defends Arsenal star after controversy in Chelsea clash | OneFootball

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers has defended Katie McCabe after she escaped a red card in their Women’s Champions League clash against Chelsea.

The Gunners lost 1-0 at Stamford Bridge but still progressed after a 3-2 victory on aggregate. However, controversy was sparked late on in the quarter-final tie.

With Chelsea chasing an equaliser in injury time, McCabe pulled the hair of Alyssa Thompson. A free-kick was awarded but no card was shown the Arsenal defender.

“I don’t think it’s deliberate,” insisted Slegers. I think she tries to pull the shirt. Alyssa Thompson is very fast.

“I haven’t spoken to Katie. I’ve seen the incident back.

“Katie is very competitive. She wants to win. You see that in the way she plays. But for me she always plays fair.

“She would never do anything deliberately bad with bad intentions. But I haven’t spoken to Katie yet, so I can’t comment on how she would comment on this situation.”

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor was left furious and received a red card for her reaction, whilst Thompson was left in tears after the challenge.

Slegers added: “I didn’t know that and I’m sorry to hear. But I think hopefully that can be solved internally and there’s a good conversation.

“Honest apologies if something happened that wasn’t meant to happen. Sorry to hear about that.”

After tonight, Arsenal are the only English side remaining in the competition. They will hope to defend their crown as the reigning champions of Europe.