Emma Hayes seethes as ‘worst decision in history’ costs Chelsea

Emma Hayes called the decision to send off Chelsea defender Kadeisha Buchanan the “worst in Women’s Champions League history” as her side crashed out to Barcelona at the semi-final stage with a 2-0 defeat on the night.

The tie was level at 1-1 on aggregate, Aitana Bonmati having scored in the first half to cancel out Erin Cuthbert’s strike from the first leg, when the game at Stamford Bridge turned decisively against the hosts on the hour mark.

Buchanan stretched for a loose ball and caught Patri Guijarro on the ankle, referee Iuliana Demetrescu showed a second yellow card and Chelsea were left to hold off the European champions for the final 30 minutes with 10 players.

It would prove agonisingly beyond them. With 15 minutes to go, Jess Carter leaned an arm into the back of Bonmati as she broke into the penalty area, she tumbled over Ashley Lawrence and the referee awarded a penalty which was coolly stroked home by Fridolina Rolfo.

“When you lose football matches and you’ve beaten by the better team 11 v 11, you know they’re the best team in the world for a reason,” said Hayes.

“They had a strong first half, the deflected first goal put them in a good position.

“The second half we were coming on top. Then when you get such a shocking officiating decision, there’s nothing you can do about it.

“It’s hard when you’ve got 11. When you’ve got 10 it’s virtually impossible.

“Even the Barca players said they knew the referee was helpful for them. I didn’t think it was a foul, let alone a yellow card.

“We didn’t have the opportunity to lose it. It was taken away.

“I was surprised when I saw (the referee) selected. She’s famous for easy cards. I think that’s probably the worst decision in Women’s Champions League history.”

Leading 1-0 from the first leg and cheered on by their record crowd of 39,398, Chelsea contained Barca during a first 20 minutes in which the game stubbornly failed to ignite.

That changed midway through the half when Bonmati received the ball in space, danced by Niamh Charles with a deft step-over and sent a low shot spinning into the bottom corner via a deflection off Buchanan.

Chelsea hit the bar through Melanie Leupolz, the midfielder thumping the ball off the frame of an open goal from six yards out after Lauren James had picked her out with a neat cut-back.

Sjoeke Nusken hit the outside of the post in the second half as Chelsea sought the winner, but then came the red card for Buchanan and Rolfo’s penalty to end Hayes’ European dream.

“I’m gutted for (the players),” she said. “We were robbed.

“We were on top of the game. We’d just hit the post. Momentum was going in that direction.

“You need everything to go your away. They get two yellow cards, a deflection and a penalty. Everything went their way.

“The toughest thing to take is that we didn’t lose it. There’s nothing you can do when there’s such a terrible decision. It’s already hard enough.”

Barca manager Jonatan Giraldez downplayed the importance of Buchanan’s dismissal.

“It’s part of the game,” he said. “The second (card), the ref in that moment shows the second yellow.

“For me the most important thing is management of emotions. Today we were better than Chelsea.”