Referee Terje Hauge has admitted he may have acted too hastily in sending off Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in the Champions League final against Barcelona.

Lehmann saw red after 18 minutes in Paris following a challenge on Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o just outside the area. The loose ball fell to Ludovic Giuly, who slotted it into an empty net. Many observers felt Hauge should have used the advantage rule, given the goal and allowed Lehmann to stay on the pitch. And the Norwegian has now conceded he should perhaps have thought things over before reaching for the red card.

"We had full control of the match and all in all I'm quite happy with my performance," Hauge told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. "The match started well, then obviously there was the incident with the sending-off. At this point I would have liked to have taken a few more seconds before I made my decision."