‘Very weird experience’ – Jonas Eidevall on Arsenal’s win over Ajax as goalposts had to be adjusted
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ByEurosport
Updated 29/09/2022 at 09:54 GMT
The match between Arsenal and Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday was marred by the goalposts having to be adjusted when it became clear before the game that they were actually too small for the regulations. There were issues during the game as well when there was confusion over Arsenal wanting to take off Beth Mead after she suffered a concussion during the match.
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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has described his team's 1-0 win over Ajax as “very weird” as his team made it through to the Champions League group stages.
There was confusion around the concussion substitution rule after Beth Mead had to be taken off, and before the game the goalposts had to be measured and subsequently changed after it was confirmed they were 10cm smaller than regulations require.
Arsenal did make it through after victory confirmed their spot following the 2-2 draw in the first leg, with Vivianne Miedema scoring the only goal of the game in her native Holland.
"It's been a very weird experience being here," said Eidevall.
"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."
On Mead, the Arsenal manager said, "There is no doubt that Beth Mead needs to be taken off. 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 [to come on] 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."
He added that he felt that the tackle on his forward was worthy of a red card, describing it as “careless” and saying that "When you tackle towards the head, that is not only pain, it can impact the rest of your life. That is so important. The decisions have to be very good," he added.
"If that is not a red card to go towards someone's head like that… I know she doesn't mean it, but it's carelessness.”
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