Game must grow up Hammers fume at offside howlers
FURIOUS West Ham manager Rehanne Skinner said women’s football still has ‘growing up’ to do after her team were on the wrong side of controversial officiating yesterday.
The Hammers were defeated 2-0 by Chelsea but wrongly had a goal disallowed for offside when they were 1-0 down. Riko Ueki was also incorrectly flagged offside when through on goal in the second half.
It comes after Manchester United boss Marc Skinner said VAR should be used for games played at big stadiums after Manchester City’s first goal in their 3-1 derby win was allowed to stand despite Bunny Shaw being in an offside position in the build-up.
‘It’s not good enough. The bottom line is, if that’s how I operated in my job, I wouldn’t be in my job,’ West Ham boss Skinner said yesterday.
‘That’s the bottom line. People can say it’s because we’ve lost 2-0 and things like that but it’s because it’s a frequent occurrence and it’s three games now.
‘Apologies after the game don’t change the outcome. A lot of people are talking about VAR and things like that and if that’s what we need to do to get results right, then that’s what we need to do.
‘Ultimately, the referees still aren’t professional in this game so they’re not actually in a situation where they are solely focusing on these games and I think that has just got to change. The game has still got so much growing up to do, we’re still not right across the board with the game.’
Chelsea’s win moves them back to the top of the Women’s Super League after Manchester City had leapfrogged them with victory over United on Saturday.
Aggie Beever-Jones opened the scoring for the Blues after just 90 seconds before Erin Cuthbert added a second to wrap things up in the 87th minute.
LOTTE WUBBEN-MOY kept ARSENAL’S faint title hopes alive after her late header earned a comeback win over ASTON VILLA.
The Gunners trailed at halftime after Ebony Salmon’s goal, but Gunners pressure paid off as Victoria Pelova equalised and Wubben-Moy headed home on 84 minutes.
Stina Blackstenius wrapped things up with a contentious late goal, as she appeared to handle the ball on the ground before getting up to slot in the third.
The kick-off had to be pushed back by 45 minutes due to Arsenal’s travel issues, just one week after their serious wardrobe malfunction at Chelsea.
Last week their top-of-the-table clash with the Blues was delayed by 30 minutes after the Gunners brought the wrong socks to the game.
The showdown at Stamford Bridge was due to start at 7pm but it was announced there would be a short delay due to a kit clash minutes before the scheduled kick-off time.
And an even longer delay was announced on Sunday as the north London club experienced difficulties on their way to Birmingham.
The Arsenal Women X account posted: ‘We can confirm that today’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture between Aston Villa and Arsenal will now kick off at 7.30pm.
‘This decision has been taken due to travel disruption affecting our arrival time.
‘We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to supporters by the late change in timings.’
Last weekend Arsenal brought white socks instead of red which resulted in a clash with Chelsea. Both teams wear white socks as part of their home kits, but with Chelsea hosts, Arsenal were forced to change colours just minutes before kick off.
The Gunners eventually settled the dispute by wearing Chelsea’s away socks, but had to tape over the Nike logo as they are sponsored by Adidas.
Clubs were given a warning to reconfirm kits before this weekend’s games.
LIVERPOOL moved up to fourth despite being held to a 0-0 draw with EVERTON. A crowd of 9,457 watched on at Goodison Park but weren’t treated to any goals.
The Reds moved a point above Manchester United, though their winless streak against their neighbours was extended to a fifth league game.
BRIGHTON leapfrogged LEICESTER after a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Foxes. Jutta Rantala had put Leicester ahead in the 54th minute before Madison Haley quickly equalised for the Seagulls. Katie Robinson and Leicester’s Lena Petermann traded goals before the Seagulls decisively took the lead through Elisabeth Terland’s winner.
BETHANY ENGLAND’S second-minute goal was enough to give TOTTENHAM victory over bottom-of-the-table BRISTOL CITY. The Robins are without a win since early November.