Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers reflected on a frustrating afternoon after the Gunners had two goals controversially disallowed against league leaders Chelsea.

Stina Blackstenius was wrongly adjudged to have handled the ball before firing it past Hannah Hampton eight minutes into the second half, before Frida Maanum’s apparent winner in stoppage time was ruled out for offside.

“In these big games where there’s so much at stake and there’s two really good teams going against each other, it’s fine margins,” Slegers reflected. “If you get the goal it’s really frustrating when it then gets disallowed and then you have to come back from that.” 

“I think what I'm really happy with is how the players used that as positive fuel instead of getting frustrated and emotional and not being able to play your task on the pitch anymore and not being able to find solutions anymore. 

“I think they used it in a positive way and it fueled them, believing that we are going to score this goal and they did it.”

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor said of the refereeing: "Difficult to make comments because from the dugout you can't see the same as they can see on the pitch. I can probably understand the Arsenal frustration but I don't want to make any comment."

Asked by the Gooner Fanzine about the impact of Arsenal’s fans, who were enraged by the decision to disallow Blackstenius’ goal, Slegers said: “Exactly, they got going, the players got going on the pitch, the crowd was amazing, I think. 

“It's also for the players on the pitch, and for us, working with the team, we have to come back from adversity, and it's the same for the crowd. 

“Of course they also get disappointed when Chelsea score their first goal, but they kept on coming back and they got louder and louder, and they also got fuelled by the decisions and wanted it even more. I think that there was some great energy in the stadium altogether, and that's great.”