PARIS — Arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Paris FC on Wednesday in the Women's Champions League after a bizarre late penalty conceded by England captain Leah Williamson in the French capital. Leading 2-1 late on, Williamson handled a short goal-kick inside her own penalty area, allowing Maeline Mendy to convert from the spot and rescue a point for the hosts.
The incident came after the ball had gone out for a goal-kick. Arsenal goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez played a quick, short pass to Williamson while the ball was stationary inside the goal area. Williamson stretched out her arm to stop the ball and place it to take the kick herself, believing Rodriguez's pass had not been the restart. With the ball still and on the field of play when Rodriguez kicked it, that action was deemed to be the goal-kick, making Williamson's subsequent touch a handball offence inside the penalty area.
While Arsenal felt aggrieved, guidance from the International Football Association Board confirms referee Iuliana Demetrescu was correct to award the penalty. Law 16 states: "In goal-kick restarts, if the ball is stationary within the goal area and is kicked by any defending player, the goal-kick is considered to have been taken. If, after the ball is in play, [a player] commits a handball offence, a penalty kick is awarded if the offence occurred inside the kicker's penalty area." Law 12 adds: "It is an offence if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm."
The error mirrored Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings' identical mistake against Club Brugge in November 2024, when Hans Vanaken scored the resulting penalty in a 1-0 win for the Belgian side. "The biggest mistake I witnessed in my career," said Villa boss Unai Emery at the time. Earlier that year, Arsenal centre-back Gabriel committed the same offence against Bayern Munich but was allowed to retake the goal-kick. "He [Gabriel] touched the ball with the hand because he thought it was not in game, but it was in game and the referee admitted it was in game and was handball," said then Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel, who called the failure to award a penalty a "kid's mistake."
Arsenal assistant coach Aaron D'Antino, who conducted post-match media duties, said the intention was for Williamson to take the kick and framed it as a learning moment. "If we're looking at what we can control, it's just passing the ball to Leah from what I remember seeing. The ball was still rolling and she [Rodriguez] was moving it to Leah for her to take the goal-kicks as we normally do," D'Antino said. "So maybe the learning in that is how we get the ball to Leah, so we don't put ourselves in that situation." Former Arsenal and Scotland defender Jen Beattie told Paramount+ the decision was wrong, saying: "For me, I just don't even know how that happens. Leah knows it's a goal-kick, she's catching the ball. That's shocking from the referee." The draw leaves Arsenal fourth in the Champions League table after two games; victory would have lifted them to second.