Kolkata: In a match where two penalties proved decisive, the one taken away became the talking point. Atletico Madrid and Arsenal traded strikes from the spot in a Champions League semi-final first leg that wasn’t as astonishing as the one in Paris but just as absorbing and, maybe, more attritional. And more controversial.
With the match poised at 1-1, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie needed 13 replays to decide that David Hancko’s contact with Eberechi Eze in the 78th minute was not enough for the Arsenal player to have gone down. It left Mikel Arteta “incredibly fuming”, the Arsenal manager calling the decision “completely unacceptable” and one that can “change the course of a tie.”
Arteta had television pundits agreeing with him. Steven Gerrard said it should not have been referred because there was contact and no clear and obvious error. On TNT Sport, he had support from Martin Keown and Steve McManaman. Arsenal legend Ian Wright put a screenshot of Hancko’s foot on Eze’s on X and said: “Home side gets that pen!”
It had Diego Simeone sounding philosophical. “Sometimes the VAR gives to you, sometimes it takes away,” the Atletico Madrid manager said after Wednesday’s draw in Madrid through goals from Viktor Gyokeres (44) and Julian Alvarez (56). Television cameras caught Simeone trying to draw Makkelie to the pitchside monitor. When the referee arrived, Simeone was neither far from him, nor quiet. “That’s why people don’t like the dark arts, don’t like Atletico Madrid,” said McManaman. The Riyadh Air Metropolitano bounced when Makkelie signalled no penalty.
Just as they did when VAR caught Marcos Llorente’s shot hitting Ben White’s wrist, the Arsenal right-back’s hand being away from his body. The shot may not have gone anywhere and in the Premier League deflections off a player’s body onto his arm – the ball has ricocheted off White’s shin – do not usually lead to penalties. But like on Tuesday, when Ousmane Dembele’s attempted cross hit Alphonso Davies’s hand after grazing his body, this was given.
Alvarez banged in the equaliser showing he has lived down the double-touch penalty in the Champions League quarter-final elimination last season. It was Alvarez’s 10th goal of the campaign putting him alongside Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and behind only Harry Kane among players still in the fray. In a tight match, the Argentina international stood out as an attacking threat making late runs into the front third. Like in the 41st minute when he arrived to meet Giuliano Simeone’s pass during a counter-attack initiated by Antoine Griezmann. An excellent interception from Declan Rice prevented damage.
The equaliser came during a spell of dominance from the home team. In his last European home match, Griezmann, who will move to USA in summer, hit the horizontal while off-balance. One minute later, in the 64th, Atleti forced three corner-kicks and in the 74th, Ademola Lookman drew a sharp save from David Raya after getting ahead of White.
The penalty came after successive corners, the first was forced by a superb block from Gabriel off Griezmann after Lookman had forced a reflex save from Raya.
It took a smart tactical twitch from Simeone to get Atletico back in the contest after a bright start. He replaced his son Giuliano Simeone in midfield with centre-back Robin le Normand and shifted from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2. Llorente and Lookman became wingbacks and the availability of a third centre-back allowed Atletico to push an extra player into midfield.
It stifled Arsenal who had imposed themselves on the game. The night was a slow burn and was interesting in a different way from Paris as Arsenal tried to draw Atleti out of their defensive shape. “There is no one style of play that is superior to another,” Vincent Kompany has said.
The Bayern boss had explained Tuesday’s goalfest as a clash of similar ideas. Wednesday’s match was different. The home team was willing to sit deep and look for opportunities on the counter. Arsenal could have scored had Gabriel Martinelli and Piero Hincapie not got in each other’s way to a Nuno Madueke delivery. Giuliano Simeone then got a touch that took away Martin Odegaard’s overhead pass for Martinelli. Hancko denied Odegaard with a block in the 15th minute after Gyokeres found him.
Hancko getting on his wrong side led to Gyokeres winning the penalty after a misdirected header from Alvarez had Odegaard and Martin Zubimendi combining to play the striker through. Having cost €73.5 million, Gyokeres has not had the best start to his Arsenal career, with Arteta preferring Kai Havertz for his hold-up play. Well, Havertz was injured and with his 19th goal of the season – also his third against Atletico Madrid in 25-26– Gyokeres has kept Arsenal’s quest for a double alive.
