Arsenal women's star avoids red card after nasty incident which 'left player in tears'

Arsenal women's star Katie McCabe caused outrage on Thursday night after her hair-pulling antics went completely unpunished.

The Gunners were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter final second leg, with Sjoeke Nusken breaking the deadlock in the 94th minute but not doing enough to prevent a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor was furious with McCabe getting away with a blatant hair pull on Alyssa Thompson shortly after the goal.

Thompson got past the Republic of Ireland international on the right and sprinted away with the ball. McCabe responded by yanking the USWNT's ponytail in incredibly cynical fashion but somehow, not even a foul was given.

Instead, Bompastor ended up being sent off for her repeated angry protests over the decision.

No card was shown to Katie McCabe after she stopped Alyssa Thompson’s run with a hair pull 👀 pic.twitter.com/7JKeHVfXt4

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) April 1, 2026

VAR was in use for the fixture but did not instruct referee Frida Mia Klarlund to review the incident. In January, Everton defender Michael Keane was sent off courtesy of VAR intervention for pulling the hair of Wolves striker in a 1-1 Tolu Arokodare.

Everton appealed to get the three-game ban overturned and then reduced but failed in both instances, with David Moyes left furious over the verdict from the Football Association's regulatory commission.

Bompastor was incensed by the lack of punishment and proceeded to pull up the video footage of the controversial incident on her phone in a post-match interview with the BBC.

"For me, it is clearly a red card for the Arsenal player. She's pulling Alyssa Thompson's hair," the Frenchwoman said.

"If the VAR is not able to check that situation, I don't know why we have the VAR.

"I'm the one getting a red card when I think the Arsenal player should be the one getting a red card."

Bompastor also added that the incident took its toll on Thompson, who was "crying and emotional" afterwards.

Arsenal coach Renee Sleger said that the action was "not intentional" but "unlucky".

McCabe appeared to try and speak to Thompson when the situation happened and after it dominated headlines, she took to Instagram to write a statement where she claimed she was trying to grab the American's shirt.

"I just want to clarify that I was genuinely reaching for the shirt. I wouldn't ever want to pull someone's hair. Full respect to Thompson."

In the laws of the game, hair pulling is considered violent conduct or unsporting behaviour as it can involve excessive force or aggression.