The 26 seconds that Alex Greenwood used up before taking a free-kick for Manchester City proved more costly than expected in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
Referee Emily Heaslip's decision to punish Greenwood for time-wasting, producing a second yellow card and sending off the England defender in the 38th minute, came out of the blue and stunned those inside Joie Stadium.
"But I think anyone who has watched us in the last two games would never say that. We are a good, young team that maintain possession of the ball really well, are exciting to watch and we would like to keep 11 players on the pitch! "You don't want consistency in bad decisions, of course not. Everyone makes mistakes - players, managers and referees.
"Of course the sending off alters the game because it's 11 v 10," said Chelsea boss Emma Hayes afterwards. "What you then see is several yellow cards come for City players out of pure frustration. It ruins the game. It hasn't even been a game with challenges that have been worth yellow cards."
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