Arsenal Womens manager furious after Beth Mead concussed in Ajax clash | OneFootball

Arsenal Women´s Beth Mead concussed in Ajax clash – Manager Eidevall furious by Michelle

It was a stormy night when the Gunners played Ajax away in Amsterdam last night (Sept 28th) in the 2nd leg of their UEFA WCL qualifier.  Arsenal secured a 0-1 win (2-3 aggregate) with a most excellent goal from Dutch superstar Vivianne Miedema early in the 2nd half.  It was a tough game, as was expected after Arsenal only managed a 2-2 draw against Ajax in the 1st leg clash at Meadow Lane.

Beth Mead was a subbed on for Stina Blackstenius in the 67th minute of the game.  Surprisingly, she wasn´t in the starting line-up for the fixture.  Soon after coming on Beth delivered a great cross in that fell perfectly for Caitlin Foord on the edge of the box, but her effort was blocked.  Ajax pressed very hard to find an equaliser while Arsenal tried to slow the game and keep possession.  Eidevall was furious with the officials when the nation´s sweetheart Beth Mead was brought down, injured, and Arsenal were refused a replacement.

Afterwards, Eidevall said in the Guardian: I think Uefa removed the concussion sub, they still have the concussion protocol which means the doctor takes the decision. There’s no doubt that Beth needs to be taken off.

The problem that I have is that I asked the fourth official if we can do a concussion sub and she said yes, and that’s why we are preparing Lina, and then when we are going to do it she says no.

We had that break for two, three minutes and we could have spent a lot of that time speaking to the players on how we would have defended with 10. So I think that’s misinformation from the referee. I honestly don’t know how and why that can be, because for me it’s just such a simple question to answer yes or no.

If that’s not a red card to go towards a head like that – I know she doesn’t mean it – but it’s careless. And in the end it’s carelessness that puts Beth at real risk. I just hope she’s all right.

We have not had any update on how Beth is doing but hope that she is recovering well and back to her beautiful self soon.  We feel as furious as Jonas to be honest.  It is farcical:

Thankfully, Arsenal carried on admirably and held onto the their 0-1 defeat of Ajax, securing their qualification to the Women´s Champions League group stage.  We will find out who Arsenal will be up against on Monday (October 3rd) when the Champions League draw takes place.

With Champions League football now secured for the season, many Arsenal players are off for a short international break in October. They will be back in action in the Women’s Super League on October 16th against Reading.

Michelle Maxwell

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