‘That’s unacceptable’

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes launched a stinging attack on her Arsenal counterpart Jonas Eidevall following the Women’s League Cup final.

When recounting the incident in an interview with BBC Sport, she said: “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 looked to defuse the situation in his post-match interview and believed the incident referred to a dispute regarding whether or not a multi-ball system would be implemented.

When asked for his reaction to Hayes’ comments, he said: “Okay. 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.”

The Gunners turn their attention back to Women’s Super League matters on April 14 when they host Bristol City after the upcoming international break.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will focus on another cup competition when their players return from international duty, with an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United to look forward to on the same day.

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.