Chelsea ends Barcelona’s 100 per cent start

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor saw her side pegged back after taking an early lead against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge (Adam Davy/PA)

Chelsea ended a run of three consecutive defeats to Barcelona with a 1-1 draw in the Women’s Champions League at Stamford Bridge – but saw a second-half winner ruled out for offside.

Sonia Bompastor’s team went ahead after 14 minutes through a strike from Ellie Carpenter, but Ewa Pajor soon levelled before a there was a lengthy stoppage due to technical difficulties – as the TV screens inside Stamford Bridge went down as did the audio equipment of referee Tess Olofsson.

When play did get going again, a cagey second half followed before there was a dramatic ending when Chelsea substitute Catarina Macario headed in with her first touch after 72 minutes only to see her goal ruled out by the offside flag.

Carpenter dragged a gilt-edged chance wide late on as Chelsea had to settle for a point, which puts them down to sixth in the league phase after four fixtures – and outside of the top-four which will earn automatic qualification for the quarter-finals.