Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes tore into referee Iuliana Demetrescu after her side saw a first-leg lead over Barcelona evaporate in Saturday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal.
Chelsea managed a stunning win in Spain last week, but lost the second leg 2-0 amid multiple controversial calls.
Canada defender Kadeisha Buchanan was given a second yellow card in the 59th minute after a tackle on Patri Guijarro, drawing strenuous disagreement from Chelsea (and many neutral observers).
With the resulting numerical superiority, Barça would go on to claim the winning goal on a penalty kick given over modest contact as Aitana Bonmatí tumbled amid pressure from Jess Carter and Ashley Lawrence.
Speaking at a press conference after the match, Hayes didn’t hold anything back when it came to Demetrescu’s performance.
“I didn’t think it was a foul, let alone a yellow card,” was Hayes’ read on the red card. “I think that is probably the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions league history…
“I stood there and looked at the fourth official and said ‘surely that will be checked,’ and she said ‘it can’t on a yellow.’ There’s nothing you can do when it’s such a terrible decision and it’s already hard enough [to face Barcelona].
“Second half, we were getting on top, the players were confident, so when you get such a shocking decision… There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s hard enough to play against Barça with 11. When we have 10, it’s impossible.”
Hayes: ‘We were robbed’
Hayes continued with her criticism of Demetrescu, calling her “famous for easy cards” and expressing surprise that UEFA gave the assignment to the 34-year-old.
UEFA had only given Demetrescu two previous assignments as a center referee during this edition of the UWCL, with the Romanian calling Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 win over Roma in December and a January match that saw BK Häcken and Paris FC battle to a scoreless draw. Per Soccerway, Demetrescu doled out 10 bookings across those two encounters.
The defeat came as a bitter blow for Hayes, who will depart Chelsea at the end of this season to take over as the U.S. women’s national team’s head coach. With this last chance at UWCL glory gone, Hayes’ final match in charge for the Blues will be May 18’s trip to face Manchester United.
“I’m gutted for [the players]. We were robbed,” said Hayes. “We’d just hit the post. We could feel the momentum [changing] but didn’t have the chance to experience that.”
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