A year after losing their chances of winning their ticket to the Champions League final in the first leg of the semi-finals, the fault of the defeat conceded at home (0-1) against PSG, Arsenal took a first step towards the Puskas Arena, where the final will take place.
Arsenal in fact won the draw (1-1) on the Metropolitano pitch and are therefore in a slightly favorable tie. The Gunners nonetheless harbored some regrets at the end of the meeting. The fault of the scenario of the meeting which saw them open the score just before the break thanks to a penalty converted by Viktor Gyokeres before being joined in the score in the second half following a new penalty scored by Julian Alvarez.
The match almost went to the side of the Londoners in the final moments of the match. About ten minutes from the end of regulation time, Eberechi Eze, thrown into the area, collapsed after contact with David Hancko. Danny Makkelie, the referee of the match, did not hesitate and pointed to the penalty spot.
“ There should have been a penalty“
Called by the VAR, the Dutchman nevertheless changed his mind and canceled the sanction. Much to the chagrin of Mikel Arteta, who expressed his anger and frustration after the meeting. “I am extremely disappointed and annoyed, because it was against the rules. I don’t understand, and that changes the course of the end of the match”he railed at the microphone of TNT Sports.
“When you watch the action, there is contact. There should have been a penalty. At this level, it is unacceptable,”
he continued, full of bitterness. But Mikel Arteta was not the only one to have it bad against the referee. The same was true of… Diego Simeone. The fault was the first penalty awarded to the Gunners following a first intervention by David Hancko, this time on Viktor Gyokeres. “To whistle a penalty, well it must be a penalty… The contact seemed minimal to me, it’s a Champions League semi-final…”confided the Argentinian technician.
