Chelsea boss Emma Hayes called out Arsenal counterpart Jonas Eidevall for what she claimed to be “male aggression” following a touchline fracas with Blues midfielder Erin Cuthbert late in the Gunners’ 1-0 extra-time League Cup final victory.
Eidevall was quick to defend his behaviour, saying the disagreement began with a pre-match decision, favoured by Chelsea, to use a one-ball system in the final instead of Arsenal’s multi-ball preference.
Cuthbert had gone for a throw-in late in extra time when she turned around and walked towards Eidevall – possibly reacting to something the Arsenal boss had said – and the pair exchanged words on the touchline.
After the final whistle, decided by a Stina Blackstenius strike 116 minutes into what had been a goalless stalemate, Hayes appeared to shove Eidevall as the two went in for their post-match handshake.
Asked about the Cuthbert incident, the Chelsea manager told BBC Sport: “I think there’s a way to behave on the side of the pitch and, not for the first time… I’ve been in women’s football a long time and I don’t think we should tolerate male aggression like we did today.
“Fronting up or squaring up to a player is something that’s unacceptable. I’ve never been booked in 12 years of my career but I think there’s a way to behave on the touchline. He received a yellow card but perhaps should have been more.”
Eidevall disagreed with Hayes’ assessment of his actions, telling BBC Sport: “To be honest, I can’t really take it seriously (being called an aggressor).
“My word on what was happening would be that before the game we had a discussion between the clubs about whether to use one ball or multi-ball system.
“In this situation, Arsenal said multi-ball, Chelsea said one ball. The decision was to play the final on a one-ball system.
“The ball goes out of play, the Chelsea player wants a new ball to take a quick throw-in and I said, ‘We play with only one ball and you guys were the ones who decided that’.
“Obviously it now drives all kinds of emotions in there, nothing more, nothing less. I can’t see that I did anything, had any form of contact with anyone – either a player or a coach. That was it.”
