‘I have never experienced anything like it’
Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall described his sides visit to Ajax as a ‘very weird experience’ after the goals were found to be too small before the Champions League qualifier.
Vivianne Miedema’s goal secured a passage to the group stage for the Gunners, who had been held to a 2-2 draw in the first leg on home soil.
But the main talking point from the game came before a ball had been kicked, when Arsenal complained that the goal frames being used were too small.
After they were checked, it was found that Arsenal’s complaints were valid, with the height of the goal frame 10cm short of IFAB regulations. Adjustments were made by ground staff before the game kicked off.
“It’s been a very weird experience being here,” said Eidevall.
Ridiculous situation. Goals are uneven, 10cm out. pic.twitter.com/k8bbVTlR5S
— Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) September 28, 2022
“Playing against a big club like Ajax where we had to measure the goals before the start of the game… I have never experienced anything like it to be honest.
“It’s very weird but we can only control the things we can control.”
Last night, Ajax's goalposts were 10cm 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 against Arsenal 😅
🗣 "It's been a very weird experience being here."
Arsenal women's head coach Jonas Eidevall reacts to the strange incident when they noticed the problem during the warm up pic.twitter.com/ZtTHEpeWxZ
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 29, 2022
Eidevall also said that he was misinformed on the rules around concussion substitutes by the game’s fourth official, following a head injury to England international Beth Mead, who was instantly withdrawn by Arsenal as a precaution.
“There is no doubt that Beth Mead needs to be taken off,” Eidevall said later. “The problem I have is that I asked the fourth official if we could do a concussion substitute and she says ‘yes’.
“We were preparing Lina Hurtig then when we are going to do it she says ‘no’. We were getting her ready for two or three minutes.
“We would have spent that time speaking to the players about how we could defend with 10 players. That misinformation from the referee… I honestly don’t know why and how that could be. It’s such a simple question to answer yes or no.”
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