Arteta ‘incredibly fuming’ as he slams ‘completely unacceptable’ decision to overturn Arsenal penalty
Arteta ‘incredibly fuming’ as he slams ‘completely unacceptable’ decision to overturn Arsenal penalty Mikel Arteta slammed the decision to overturn a late penalty for his Arsenal side in their draw with Atletico Madrid as “completely unacceptable”. Arsenal will take a 1-1 draw back to the Emirates for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, after Julian Alvarez equalised with a penalty following Viktor Gyokeres’ opener, also from the penalty spot. Arteta’s side thought they had earned a third penalty of the game when Ebere Eze went down under a challenge from David Hancko late in the second half, only for the referee to overturn his original decision after watching it back on the pitch-side monitor.
And the Arsenal boss says he was left “very upset” with the decision. Stay up to date with all the latest Arsenal news by joining our Arsenal WhatsApp channel . “Extremely disappointed and annoyed because it was against the rules,” he told TNT Sports after the game.
“I don’t understand it and it changes the course of the tie. Very, very upset. “The whole sequence, it’s a clear contact, he makes the decision, and you cannot overturn that decision when you have to look at it 13 times.
At this level, it’s completely unacceptable. “It’s a wrong decision and it changes the course of the tie. That cannot happen at this level.
” Atletico’s penalty was awarded for a handball by Ben White, something Arteta says he “has to accept” given the differing handball rule in the Champions League. But speaking in his press conference, Arteta continued: “What I’m incredibly fuming with is how the hell the penalty on Ebz gets overturned in the manner that it happened. It’s not a clear and obvious error.