Sonia Bompastor was so incensed by Katie McCabe’s blatant hair pull on Alyssa Thompson going unpunished that she pulled out her mobile phone DURING a post match interview to show the world the evidence.
The Chelsea boss saw red literally and figuratively as her side crashed out of the Women’s Champions League to London rivals Arsenal, despite a 1-0 win on the night.
Sjoeke Nusken’s 94th minute strike gave the Blues a dramatic victory at Stamford Bridge, but it wasn’t enough to overturn a 3-2 aggregate deficit. European dreams over.
But the real talking point came late on, when McCabe grabbed a handful of Thompson’s hair and yanked the young American to the ground. No card. No VAR intervention. Nothing.
Bompastor was sent off for her protests during the match. By the time she fronted up to the cameras afterwards, she had come prepared.
“I brought the phone with me,” she said, holding up the device like a detective presenting Exhibit A. “I don’t know if you can see that, and that’s probably not usual.
“But if you look at this video… See, for me it is clearly a red card for the Arsenal player. She’s pulling Alyssa’s hair. So I think for me is the VAR again, he’s not able to check that situation. I don’t know why we have the VAR.”
It was an extraordinary moment. A top level manager, still fuming, replaying footage on her smartphone for the cameras because she didn’t trust the officials to do their job.
And who could blame her?
Thompson, the 21 year old American winger, was left in tears after the incident. Not just because of the result, but because someone had physically grabbed her by the hair in the middle of a football match and got away with it.
“She was crying,” Bompastor said. “She’s trying her best on the pitch in both games and it is not good enough. When you are playing football and someone pulls your hair, it’s bad. Of course, she was crying and emotional with that situation and the result.”
McCabe, never one to shy away from a robust challenge, quickly took to Instagram to offer her version of events.
“I just want to clarify that I was genuinely reaching for the shirt,” the Irish defender wrote. “I wouldn’t ever want to pull someone’s hair. Full respect to Thompson.”
It was a statement that landed somewhere between an apology and a defence. But the footage, the same footage Bompastor was waving at the cameras tells a different story. Hands don’t accidentally get tangled in someone’s hair while reaching for a shirt.
The bigger question is how VAR missed it.
Chelsea are now left to pick up the pieces. They sit second in the Women’s Super League, nine points behind Manchester City. Arsenal are third with 38 points and two games in hand. The title is not impossible, but it is a long shot.
Next up is an FA Cup quarter final against Tottenham on Monday. A chance to salvage something from a season that promised so much.
But for Bompastor, the frustration will linger. She has the receipts. She has the video. And she has absolutely no idea why the officials don’t.
One thing is for certain, the next London derby between these two just got a whole lot spicier. McCabe v Thompson, round two. You wouldn’t want to miss it.
