Player gets kicked in the face but no red card is given

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The incident was accidental but some fans think the player should have been shown a red card

Melvine Malard kicks Niamh Charles in the face
The incident was an accident but has sparked debate (Image credit: Sky Sports)

Chelsea celebrated their sixth Women's Super League title in a row on Wednesday night but one of their players came away with more than just a trophy.

The Blues claimed the title with a 1-0 win over Manchester United to become the first WSL club to win the trophy with two games to spare.

But Chelsea midfielder Niamh Charles was left with a bump on her forehead after the bruising encounter against the clubs' rivals.

Red card: What have fans said?

In the first half, United had a momentum swing and Melvine Malard attempted to keep the ball in play in the box. Charles was challenging the forward to keep it out.

Malard had her eyes trained on the ball and lifted her leg to hit it back into the box but in the process she kicked Charles in the face. The incident was a complete accident with no intent from Malard to injure Charles.

chelsea celebrate title win

Chelsea won the game and the title (Image credit: Getty Images)

Charles hit the floor and received medical treatment. Malard received a yellow card for the incident but some fans questioned why it was not a red card.

One said: "How was that not a red for Malard???!"

Another wrote: "Just seen the Malard clip, that’s a red any day wtf is your foot doing that high."

And a third said: "malard had her boot on Charles face & got only a yellow for that. on another day that's a red."

The referee judged it as just a yellow card offence. There was no VAR intervention as the technology is not in use in the English women's top-flight.

There was another moment where supporters wanted to see a red card in the match but this time it was for Chelsea captain Millie Bright.

The skipper seemed to trip Elisabeth Terland after the ball was cleared. However, the officials did not penalise Bright at all for the offence.

A supporter wrote: "Disgusting from Millie Bright. absolutely no need for that. ball had already been cleared, this was just for the sake of it."

And another added: "Millie bright was extremely fortunate to stay on the pitch tbh."

While the trophy is Chelsea's sixth in a row, it is the first English league title for manager Sonia Bompastor. She took over from Emma Hayes for the 2024/25 season and has not lost a game in the league since taking charge.

Sonia Bompastor, Head Coach of Chelsea speaks to her players following the Barclays Women's Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Kingsmeadow on November 24, 2024 in Kingston upon Thames, England.

Sonia Bompastor has won her first WSL title (Image credit: Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

They will now target an invincible season with two games, against Tottenham and Liverpool, to go.

Bompastor said of the league win: "It's a great achievement. It feels a bit unreal," Bompastor told Sky Sports. "I knew we had to fight until the end.

"For us to still be unbeaten and achieve what we just achieved is really good.

"Not easy to come as a new manager to a new country to adjust to a new league. I learned a lot, but I have a great bunch of players and great staff.

"This league is really competitive. For some people, they just think being Chelsea, it is really easy to achieve that. It's not.

"We work really hard. We had the right mindset from the beginning of the season until now. I'm really happy for that, really pleased for that."

Sarah Rendell
Sarah Rendell
Women's football editor

Sarah joined the FourFourTwo team in September 2024 in a freelance role. She also writes for The Guardian, BBC and Rugby World where she specialises in women's football and rugby. Sarah has a bachelors degree in English and a master's in newspaper journalism.