Alan Shearer has made his thoughts perfectly clear on the decision to award Paris Saint-Germain a penalty in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal.
Luis Enrique's side were a goal in front on the night and thus 2-0 up on aggregate against the Gunners after a Fabian Ruiz strike when referee Felix Zwayer was called over to the pitchside monitor. That was because VAR had spotted a potential handball by Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Replays showed that Achraf Hakimi's shot only lightly struck his hand in an earlier attack, but that was enough for a penalty to be awarded with Ally McCoist and Martin Keown making their frustration clear on commentary.
Keown said: "Not a single player on the pitch appeals. This is where VAR spoils it. It has been a fantastic contest but to finish the game and the tie in this way, it's ridiculous."
"He cannot give this but they will," McCoist added. "You know something, I don't know Martin. Ah man alive...You look at Hakimi, doesn't even appeal for it, doesn't even look for it. He is not interested in it. Shambles."
"It has been a fantastic contest but to finish the game and the tie in this way, it's ridiculous," Keown said, before adding Raya denied Vitinha: "Justice is served. He gets down brilliantly, he has to guess right."
In the eyes of both, justice was clearly served as David Raya saved Vitinha's spot-kick but that did not prevent Shearer from also delivering a brutal verdict to social media.
"Ah man do me a favour. Handball for that is just crap. #PSGARS," he wrote on X. Ultimately, it did not matter as a mistake from Thomas Partey was capitalised on by PSG with Hakimi curling one into the far corner to make it 2-0.
Great work from Leandro Trossard gave Bukayo Saka a chance at goal which he duly took, but a miss from the Arsenal talisman just minutes later with the goal gaping denied Arsenal the chance to really stage a stunning comeback.
PSG defended admirably for the remaining ten minutes with their spot in the final against Inter confirmed while Arsenal's focus will go back onto qualifying for next season's Champions League through their Premier League finish.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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