This cannot happen: Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta livid over Eberechi Eze penalty review

MADRID – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left raging at the decision to overturn a penalty his team had been awarded in their 1-1 Champions League semi-final, first-leg draw at Atletico Madrid on April 29.

With the score tied in the final stages, Eberechi Eze went down in the box under a challenge from Atletico defender David Hancko, who made contact with his foot.

Dutch referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the penalty spot but changed his mind after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, to the delight of the Estadio Metropolitano crowd.

“What I’m incredibly fuming with is how the hell the penalty on (Eze) gets overturned in the manner that it happened,” Arteta said.

“This changes the course of the game at this level. I’m sorry but this cannot happen.”

Arsenal took the lead after Hancko fouled Viktor Gyokeres, who scored the resulting penalty, before Julian Alvarez levelled with another spot kick early in the second half after a Ben White handball.

Arteta said he could accept that decision, after a similar penalty was given against Bayern Munich in the other semi-final on April 28, but he could not stomach the reversal of the Eze call.

“We are all fuming about it,” added the Gunners boss. “When you have fought so hard for nine months to be in this position, that’s another goal that changed completely the course of the tie. This cannot happen. We put so much (into) it, it cannot happen.”

He argued that there was clear contact and said the fact that the referee had to watch the replay several times before reversing his decision was proof that it should have stood.

By contrast, his opposite number Diego Simeone was grateful for the VAR’s interventions, after the White handball was also given only following a review.

The Atletico coach also disagreed with the decision to award Arsenal a spot kick for Hancko’s challenge on Gyokeres, when he shoved the striker’s back.

“The first penalty, in my humble opinion, there is some contact behind and the player throws himself down. In the semi-final of the Champions League... I think a penalty really needs to be a penalty,” said Simeone.

“The handball was not given as handball, but thanks to VAR, it was a penalty, and the second penalty, thanks to VAR, was not a penalty. Sometimes VAR gives and sometimes it takes away.”

After the nine-goal thriller between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the first semi-final in France a day earlier, the Metropolitano was treated to a far more tactical affair.

The draw leaves everything to play for in the second leg in London on May 5, with both sides desperate to win the trophy for the first time.

“Overall it was a tough game, it’s a tough place to come but it’s only half-time,” said Gyokeres. “We know when we play at home with our fans it’s going to be different. We just have to do our job and be at our best.”

Simeone called the clash at the Emirates an “extraordinary challenge”.

“London, Arsenal’s ground, a team that has not lost at all in the Champions League (this season). We have huge hope and we will go there to play with everything we have,” he said.

Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann said they must carry their second-half snap and snarl into the return leg.

“Our second-half performance was much better in terms of intensity and pressing. That’s the way to stay in the tie. It’s going to be a great match to play,” he said.

“Whether you’re at home or at the ground, it’ll be a nail-biter, but that’s the beauty of football.” AFP, REUTERS