Mikel Arteta called the decision to overturn a penalty awarded to Eberechi Eze as “completely unacceptable” after his Arsenal side were pegged back to draw 1-1 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with Atletico Madrid.
Substitute Eze went to ground in the box when he was challenged by David Hancko on 78 minutes. There was foot-on-foot contact and the Gunners looked set to have the opportunity to retake the lead. But VAR stepped in and advised referee Danny Makkelie to go to the monitor.
After watching multiple replays, Makkelie decided to rule out the penalty-kick he had awarded and the game finished level, ahead of the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
David Hancko challenges Eberechi Eze – but the initial penalty call was overturned
Arteta gave a damning assessment of the decision when he spoke to TNT Sports immediately after the game.
“After going back into the dressing room, speaking to the boys and watching the penalty incident, it’s extremely disappointing and annoying because it was against the rules and it changes the course of the tie,” he said. “I’m very, very upset.
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The Athletic’s David Ornstein was puzzled as to why Arsenal controversially had a second penalty overturned by VAR
“The whole sequence. There is clear contact. You make the decision, you cannot overturn that decision when you have to look at it 13 times. It’s completely unacceptable at this level.
“It’s the wrong decision.”
Asked in his post-match press conference if Arsenal would protest the decision to UEFA, Arteta said: “I leave that to the club to decide what’s the best thing to do. Now they’re not going to give us a penalty. That’s it. That’s gone.”
This was a match defined by three penalties.
Arsenal led at half-time through a spot-kick won and scored by Viktor Gyokeres, when Hancko was again involved, bundling over the striker from behind.
Atletico Madrid’s Hancko fouls Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres
But an improved Atletico levelled after the break through Julian Alvarez when VAR spotted a handball by Ben White from Marcos Llorente’s shot and sent referee Makkelie to the monitor. Despite the ball deflecting off White’s knee against his hand, a penalty was awarded.
On that decision, Arteta conceded the interpretation of handball in the Champions League is different to the Premier League.
Arsenal’s Ben White gave away a penalty for this handball – after a VAR check
“They have been consistent with that,” he said. “If you are going to give a penalty for this kind of thing you have to accept it.”
The handball call against White followed an even more controversial decision to punish Alphonso Davies in Paris Saint-Germain’s win over Bayern Munich in the other semi-final.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher posted on X to say UEFA must address the definition around handball in the Champions League.
“The Champions League is the best football by a mile, but these penalty decisions for handball really are a stain on the competition. Last [night’s] was worse but that should not be a penalty against White,” he said.
Arteta ‘proud’ of Arsenal: ‘It’s in our hands’
Reflecting on his team’s overall performance in Madrid, Arteta said: “I’m very proud, I said that to the boys, the way we handled the context for nine-and-a-half months, just remarkable.
“I really value what they’ve done because I’ve seen some of the best teams in the world here fall apart and concede three and four.
“We didn’t get the result that we wanted, and the way we planned the game, we wanted to win it. At least it is in our hands, in front of our people.
“We want to be in that final and in a week’s time we are going to have the opportunity to do so.”
