Why was Silvia Cristobal goal for Real Madrid was disallowed vs. Man City in Women's Champions League?

The league phase of the UEFA Women's Champions League is under way for the 2026/27 season as Barcelona look to defend their crown against the rest of the global elite.

Their fellow Spanish rivals, Real Madrid, have been quietly improving over the last decade, hoping to eventually grow the women's side into a global powerhouse just like their Clasico foes.

Taking on WSL giants Manchester City at the Bernabeu on Thursday with a chance to move into the automatic qualifying position in the league phase table, Silvia Cristobal believed for a split second that she had won the game for Real Madrid in the 89th minute, as she pounced on a loose ball and deposited it in the back of the net.

However, the referee blew her whistle and denied the chance for Los Blancos to get a famous Champions League win at home against a high-quality opponent.

The Sporting News explains what occurred for the goal to be disallowed and how the match ended up.

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Why was Silvia Cristobal goal disallowed vs. Man City?

Italian referee Silvia Gasperotti disallowed Cristobal's late goal because the official herself had interfered with play.

It was a totally fluky situation, as the referee was in the correct position to adjudicate play in the Man City penalty area. As a clearance deflected out towards the top of the 18-yard box, Cristobal pounced, reaching the ball before Lauren Hemp could defend.

However, the reason Hemp was late to challenge is because the Man City winger ran into the back of Gasperotti who could have no way of knowing there was a defender attempting to contest play from behind her.

Thus, because Hemp was unable to challenge the shot due to the referee's positioning, Gasperotti blew her whistle and stopped play just before Cristobal took the shot. You can see the referee is dismayed that the ball ended up in the back of the net, disallowing a goal, but in fairness she had stopped play before the shot was taken.