Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor urged for ‘focus on the quality we have on both teams’ as opposed to the officiating which at times threatened to take centre stage on Saturday.
Chelsea remained top of the Barclays Women’s Super League after a thrilling 1-1 draw away at Arsenal on Saturday afternoon. The match began at an electric pace with Chelsea taking a deserved early lead before Arsenal recovered and stole a late equaliser.
Sonia Bompastor spoke to the media after the match and The Halfway Line was there to hear from her.
Bompastor proud of ‘resilient and brave’ Blues
After a breathless encounter in which either side could make a convincing claim to say they should have won, the Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor made sense of all the drama on the pitch in real time,
“I think I need to watch the game again, but just try to analyse just after the game” Bompastor said.
“I think we created some really good opportunities again in the game, earlier on the game. I think we [hit] one post, one crossbar, and probably being more clinical in this type of games where the level is high and there are fine margins, it’s the most important thing.
“So not being able to score the second goal, I think you just keep the opposition alive. And you know the quality Arsenal has in their squad. So yeah, we came into the second half, we wanted to have more control, for sure, we couldn’t.
“I would say, maybe we concede too many situations, but in the same time, when you analyse, I think out of possession, we were quite resilient and brave.
“We stayed as a team to try to protect the goal. And I think I’m probably more proud of that part from my team, because resilience is something important. And when you want to go far in every competition, you can’t concede many goals.”
Bompastor: ‘I probably understand the Arsenal frustration’ with the officials
Bompastor was diplomatic when questioned about the refereeing decisions. There was no shortage of controversy surrounding the officials on Saturday with multiple decisions sparking talking points,
“[It is] difficult to make comments [on the refereeing because from the dugout you can’t see the same as they can see on the pitch” the Chelsea head coach explained.
“I probably understand the Arsenal frustration but I don’t want to make any comments on the referee.
“I think, again, like when you analyse the men’s game, it happens also for them to have big games, and we talk at the end about the referee, it happens. I think, yeah, people maybe also need to focus on the quality we have on both teams.
“I think this game is probably one of the most beautiful game in the world. Everyone wants to be involved in this game for many reasons, two good teams, the atmosphere at the Emirates was great.
“So it’s a really, really good publicity for the WSL. And I think probably balancing that with the referee. Maybe we have some control on that, making sure we just talk more about the game rather than [the refereeing].”
When pushed on the question of technology in officiating in the women’s game, Bompastor conceded,
“I think bringing the technology into the women’s game would be probably the best call we could make.”
Bompastor lauds ‘improving’ Thompson
Chelsea opened the scoring within the first 20 minutes with a sensational goal from Summer signing Alyssa Thompson. Bompastor was full of praise for the American,
“She’s great for us, [for] Chelsea and for me as a manager” Bompastor beamed.
“Of course, you could see how much talent she has and the quality she brings into a team. I think she’s improving game after game, being more connected to her teammates, understanding better the way we want to play.
“And, yeah, I think that’s good. She has a good game again today. And having a player like her in the team helps a lot.”
Another exciting young Chelsea player, Aggie Beever-Jones was missing from the London derby. Bompastor was able to provide clarity on the fitness of Chelsea’s top scorer,
“Aggie [Beever-Jones] played the London City game last weekend” Bompastor explained.
“She was fine but after the game she didn’t really recover the way we wanted [her] to from a dead leg. So she has basically a collection of inner leg and she bend her knee [not in] the right way.
“So this is why we didn’t want to take any risks. We still have a chance for the midweek game, probably more on the next weekend against Liverpool.”
