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Despite the euphoria of watching Alessia Russo score an 87th-minute goal to grab a 1-1 draw with champions Chelsea, Arsenal manager Renee Slegers was clinical in her assessment of the controversial decisions that went against her side.

And she said video assistant referees (VAR) should be introduced in the Women’s Super League to bring “justice”.

Eight minutes into the second half, Stina Blackstenius thought she had cancelled out Alyssa Thompson’s opening goal for Chelsea with a thunderous finish following a corner.

But the Emirates Stadium was left in a state of confusion when play restarted with Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton taking a free-kick inside her box, rather than her team-mates taking the kick-off.

It transpired referee Melissa Burgin had ruled Blackstenius had handled the ball, though replays showed it had clearly struck her thigh.

The second “abysmal decision” – to quote former England international Izzy Christiansen on Sky Sports – came when Frida Maanum had scored what could have been a 90th-minute winner for Arsenal.

That goal was ruled out for offside, with initial replays inconclusive.

Slegers was pragmatic about the “big” decisions.

“A lot of respect for referees because it’s not easy,” she said. “We’re looking at video. If you ask me, we need justice and that’s why I think VAR and technology can help.

“I don’t want to elaborate too much but there’s more and more at stake in the WSL. We have to have a look at how we grow the game in all aspects.”

VAR has been utilised in the later stages of the Women’s FA Cup and is also used in the Women’s Champions League, but there are no plans yet to bring it into England’s top flight.

While Slegers exuded calm, Christiansen adopted a more combative stance.

“Arsenal put themselves in a position in that second half that showed signs of a team that were so hungry to get back into the game,” she said. “What they did was exceptional from start to finish in that second half.

“They scored two goals that have been disallowed. That game should have finished 3-1 to Arsenal.

It was widely felt before this London derby that Arsenal needed to take all three points to keep alive their hopes of landing a first Women’s Super League title since 2019.

And Christiansen believes the officials have had a “huge impact” on their title hopes.

“You look at the occasion here – the magnitude of it, the stadium, the crowd,” she said. “Everything that Arsenal do so well, and the spotlight on the pitch.

“The players delivered. The officials need to deliver as well, because these are two teams that are competing for titles.”

Though Arsenal fans celebrated the draw, the fact is their team are five points adrift of a Chelsea side who have not been beaten in 33 WSL games.

Chelsea rode their luck to keep their unbeaten run intact, and equal the WSL record of 33 matches unbeaten.

Manager Sonia Bompastor said she understood Arsenal’s frustration over the two disallowed goals.

“Having a draw is not a bad result,” she said. “We want to win every game.

“I understand this result is not the one we wanted to have, but we are early on in the season, and we are still in control and in a really good place.”

Chelsea may have felt they should have been out of sight after dominating in the early stages, when they hit the post but failed to really make their dominance count.

And after dropping points for the second time this season, they may not be sitting top of the WSL after the close of play on Sunday.

Manchester City’s resurgence under Andree Jeglertz means they can go a point in front of the defending champions with a win at Everton on Sunday.

Bompastor says she is “not worried” about Chelsea’s league position.

“I think we are still early on in the season and I’m not worried about where we stand right now in the table,” she said.

“We always want to be the leaders and leading this league but the most important thing for us is to be leading the race at the end of the season.

Pride comes before a fall, as the proverb goes.

Marc Skinner was bullishly singing the praises of his Manchester United players for their eye-catching start to the season a few days ago.

Intoxicated by the joie de vivre of their play as much as the free-scoring which has seen them top of the goalscoring charts, he declared they were “playing better football than we’ve probably ever played”.

United’s 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa and a lacklustre performance in the Women’s Super League (WSL) later and the United boss’ tune was inevitably more sombre.

“Flat. It was very flat,” Skinner succinctly put it to BBC Radio 5 Live.

A face like a wet weekend in the autumnal sunshine as those in red shirts trudged off the pitch at the Leigh Sports Village, Skinner knew this was an opportunity missed for United.

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal meant United would have gone top had they beaten Villa. Instead they are three points behind the defending champions.

Will it be one that Skinner laments later in the season when the margins between success and failure might be more acute? Possibly.

“To think about the table now is a bit crazy. We don’t really look at other teams so we don’t care about other results,” insisted United captain Maya le Tissier.

But whereas Skinner, arguably, got carried away with their start – based on his public comments at least – he was adamant there will be no overreaction to this result.

It was a tepid performance, an off day, but United have shown in the seven WSL games which preceded this one they have the potential to be in the mix this season.

“You are going to have flat performances. But I don’t want to overemphasise the situation,” he explained.

“Sometimes these [results] happen. I thought Villa’s goal was a scrappy, scruffy, goal from a set-piece. It happens and sometimes it goes against you.”

Skinner felt United needed to be “cleaner in our actions and our techniques” which he wanted his “players to own as well”, while Le Tissier acknowledged they “didn’t do our basics well”.

This was far from an ideal start to what could be a pivotal week in their season for United, of course.

Paris St-Germain visit Old Trafford in the Champions League on Wednesday. Then there is the small matter of the derby against Manchester City on Sunday, 16 November.

“As a collective we’ll move forward and be better going into the PSG game,” Skinner added.

Rugby League Ashes – Match 3 of 3

England (8) 8

Try: Williams Goal: Smith Penalty: Smith

Australia (12) 30

After scoring Australia’s third try at Headingley, where the tourists completed a ruthless 3-0 series victory on Saturday, Harry Grant booted the ball into the crowd.

It was a show of defiance towards the boisterous Leeds crowd, and a symbol of the Kangaroos affirming their authority.

Once again, this was not to be England’s day.

More than in any other match in this Ashes series, Australia were made to work hard against dogged and defiant hosts. But the result was the same, a flurry of points came Australia’s way late on, and the whitewash was complete.

Having also won 3-0 in the previous series in 2003, this means Australia have completed clean sweeps in successive Ashes for the first time since 1986.

The breakthrough came after just five minutes. Having started slowly in the first two Tests, Australia raced out of the blocks here.

A looping pass from Cameron Munster out to the left wing found Josh Addo-Carr as the extra man and he crossed in the corner.

Joe Burgess – playing his first England game in 10 years – conceded a knock-on to turn over possession in a dangerous area, although replays showed he may have been stripped in the tackle.

Australia coach Kevin Walters had promised his team were “all-in” on this supposed dead rubber, and a team bearing only one change from the second Test – captain Isaah Yeo returning from concussion – threatened to run riot.

It went from bad to worse for England as full-back AJ Brimson suffered a shoulder injury just 10 minutes in. He was replaced by Mikey Lewis – a talented player but out of his depth in an unnatural position for him. He was targeted by Australia throughout the match.

And it looked like the game might be done and dusted when Australia went 12-0 ahead. Another England mistake – Morgan Knowles knocking on – gave the Kangaroos possession 20 metres from the line. They made it count, Munster with the grubber kick grounded by Hudson Young as Lewis failed to cover.

When England attacked, it was for a long time the same scenario seen at Wembley and in Liverpool where they scored only one try in two games – plenty of effort but a lack of creativity.

That was until Jez Litten kicked them into gear with a stunning break following a rare Reece Walsh error, followed by a moment of quick thinking as he kicked through under pressure for captain George Williams to chase and score.

England ended the half stronger and narrowed the gap to four points with the final action of the half, Harry Smith threading a penalty.

As in the previous two Tests, Australia started purposefully after the interval and thought they had a third try as Addo-Carr shrugged off a Lewis tackle to score, but it was disallowed for offside.

England then played like a side given a new lease of life. Suddenly the play was creative, high tempo and risky.

The partisan Headingley crowd responded, with fans from the rugby league heartland of Leeds showing their appreciation.

Australia were suddenly rattled. Melees broke out and golden boy Walsh claimed contact from an England knee.

But Australia are the number one team on the planet and reigning world champions for a reason. Another England error – Lewis adding to his bad day with a loose tackle – led directly to Grant touching down under the posts.

England: AJ Brimson, Joe Burgess, Herbie Farnworth, Harry Newman, Tom Johnstone, George Williams, Harry Smith, Mike McMeeken, Jez Litten, Matty Lees, Kallum Watkins, Kai Pearce-Paul, Morgan Knowles.

Interchanges: Mikey Lewis, Alex Walmsley, Morgan Smithies, Mikolaj Oledzki.

Australia: Reece Walsh, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Kotoni Staggs, Gehamat Shibasaki, Josh Addo-Carr, Cameron Munster, Nathan Cleary, Patrick Carrigan, Harry Grant, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Angus Crichton, Hudson Young, Isaah Yeo (captain).