Mikel Arteta has a clear message to send after Arsenal’s incident-filled draw with Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal: The Gunners will need to rise to challenge once more in the second leg to ensure their reach the European showpiece
After the frenetic carnival of goals came the slow carousel of penalty decisions. And while one semi-final provoked debate over whether it was the greatest game of all time or the quality of the game took it down, the main arguments here were over refereeing calls. That maybe says enough.
Except, if Arsenal will feel they really should have won this first leg at the Metropolitano, Atletico Madrid ’s throwback defiance nevertheless ensured this semi-final is actually more balanced than the operatic back-and-forth in Paris, at 1-1. It might have been 1-2. Because, of the three, arguably the most likely penalty wasn’t given.
The spot kick given for Eberechi Eze’s fall - with most of the debate centring around whether David Hancko actually made sufficient contact - was overturned. Viktor Gyokeres won and converted a penalty to open the scoring for Arsenal (Getty) Mikel Arteta fumed about that. “After watching the second penalty decision getting overturned, [I’m] extremely disappointed and annoyed because it’s against the rules,” he said.
"What I am fuming with is the decision to overturn Eze's penalty. It's not a clear and obvious error. It changes the course of the game.
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