Mary Fowler caught up in 'disgraceful' controversy around Matildas teammate Steph Catley

Football fans were left fuming during Arsenal's win over Manchester City.

Mary Fowler continued her incredible scoring form in Manchester City's loss to Arsenal on Sunday night, but football fans have blasted the state of the refereeing that led to her second goal. And it was Matildas teammate Steph Catley who was dudded by the decision.

Fowler made it five goals and three assists in her last five games in the Women's Super League, but her efforts were in vain in a 4-3 loss that heaps more pressure on coach Gareth Taylor. Fowler scored a rare headed goal in the 20th minute, before calmly slotting a penalty in the second half.

Mary Fowler and Steph Catley.
Mary Fowler scored the penalty after Steph Catley was wrongly dudded. Image: Getty/WSL

But the decision to award a penalty was clearly wrong because Catley's supposed foul on Aoba Fujino occurred outside the box. Fujino ended up inside the area and the referee awarded a penalty, but replays clearly showed the contact occurred outside.

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Fowler slotted her kick from the spot to get City back in the contest, but fans were left furious that the penalty was awarded in the first place. One person wrote on social media: "I'm not a fan of either team, but that sure as heck was not a penalty, I don't even think it was a foul. Officiating standards in WSL are atrocious!"

Another commented: "Not that it was a penalty by any stretch of the imagination!!!!!! Contact was outside the box." Others labelled the decision "disgraceful" and "ridiculous", while another person wrote "What a joke".

Steph Catley, pictured here conceding a controversial penalty.
Steph Catley's supposed foul clearly occurred outside the penalty box. Image: WSL

A chaotic contest started in crazy fashion when Arsenal went ahead through Mariona Caldentey in just 42 seconds after Laia Aleixandri got caught in possession just outside her own box. Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross then curled in a delicious free-kick that Lotte Wubben-Moy headed home to put the visitors two up after just eight minutes.

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Fowler's penalty made the score 3-3 in the 55th minute, and City then brought on star striker Khadija Shaw seeking a winner. But Arsenal finished the stronger team, with Swedish international Stina Blackstenius latching on to Beth Mead's low cross to seal a deserved win for the visitors.

It means City are stuck in fourth place on the ladder, while Chelsea extended their lead to 10 points with a late 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Defending champions Chelsea are set to get even stronger in coming weeks, with Matildas captain Sam Kerr on the cusp of a return.

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Just over a month ago it seemed City were the main challengers to runaway leaders Chelsea. But four losses in their last six games means Fowler's side are now 12 points off top spot, and now sit outside Champions League qualification (top three).

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"A tough one - but that's football," shrugged Fowler afterwards. "I thought overall we played pretty decent, some good football, but we did have a slow start. It's something for us to look back on and work on for the next game."

City coach Taylor said: “Of course it’s a blow. You don’t want to lose against teams you are competing with for those places but that’s our objective now, to be in the Champions League qualification places at the end of the season.”

Mary Fowler, pictured here in action during Manchester City's loss to Arsenal.
Mary Fowler in action during Manchester City's loss to Arsenal. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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