Diego Simeone has expressed his dissatisfaction with the penalty decision that handed Arsenal the lead in their Champions League semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid, which ended in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
First Half Penalty Controversy
Viktor Gyokeres opened the scoring for Arsenal from the penalty spot late in the first half after being barged over by Atletico defender David Hancko. Simeone believed the contact was minimal and that Gyokeres anticipated the challenge.
"In my opinion, the first penalty involved contact from behind, the player anticipated the contact and went down," Simeone said. "In Champions League semi-finals, you need a penalty that is truly a penalty."
VAR Decisions Under Scrutiny
Atletico equalised in the second half through Julian Alvarez after Ben White handled the ball from Marcos Llorente's shot. Arsenal then had a strong penalty claim when Hancko stood on Eberechi Eze's foot, but referee Danny Makkelie overturned his initial decision after reviewing the incident on the VAR screen.
Simeone acknowledged the role of VAR: "The referee understood that it was a penalty. On the other occasion, thanks to VAR, he understood that it was a penalty because initially it wasn't a handball, and then, in the second instance, also thanks to VAR, it wasn't a penalty. VAR sometimes gives you the benefit of the doubt and sometimes it takes it away."
Arteta's Frustration
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted his team was "fuming" with the decision to overturn Eze's penalty claim. "The decision and then what happens for a period of time. The referee has to watch it 13 times, it's clearer than that," Arteta said. "It's impossible, and yeah, we are all fuming about it."
When asked if Atletico's supporters and animated coaching staff influenced the decision, Arteta dismissed the notion: "That has nothing to do with that. I'm sure they are very well aware of what the reaction is going to be. It's normal, that reaction, we need to apply the rules. The same thing that I'm saying, that they applied the rules on Ben White's penalty, that is difficult to accept, but it is a penalty with a handbook. And what they said at the beginning of the season, Ebs is a clear and very obvious penalty. That's it."
