Mikel Arteta addressed the 1-1 draw for Arsenal against Atletico Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano as the Gunners remain deadlocked in their Champions League semi-final.
The Gunners grabbed the lead through a penalty from Viktor Gyokeres at the end of the first half at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Until that point, their defensive discipline had been the standout feature of a fixture where the two teams were even, and Atletico threatened more in the transition.
But the hosts rallied impressively in the second half, scoring through a penalty of their own for Julian Alvarez. Antoine Griezmann clipped the crossbar, and Ademola Lookman looked lively as he put Ben White on the back foot several times before Christian Mosquera helped hold onto the draw.
‘This cannot happen’
For Arteta, the conversation could not pivot too far away from the penalty calls. Not only was White somewhat unfortunate to concede a spot kick, but Eberechi Eze also watched VAR reverse the decision to punish David Hancko for another collision inside the box in the 78th minute.
“What a privilege to play the Champions League semi-final in this stadium - what energy, what an atmosphere they created. We had big parts of the game, very similar to what we wanted, and we went ahead with the penalty.
“[Viktor] had a very strong first half, especially when we were more dominant. He created the goal and the penalty, and he was ice-cool to score it in the manner that he did. The second half changed a little bit, credit to them, but there are a lot of things that we need to do much, much, much better, and I think then we had to change. I think the game changed as well, and we ended up finishing on top.
“Unfortunately, in the second half we started a bit sloppy, with certain giveaways and giving them some momentum, and that's the moment that they used it.
*“That's something that we knew we had to go through, in the manner that we gave the penalty, very disappointed. In the Premier League, it’s not a penalty.*
*“But here I have to accept that with the rules and how consistent they’ve been, for example, yesterday with Bayern Munich, I accept that this is a handball. What I am incredibly fuming with, is how the penalty on Eberechi Eze gets overturned in the manner that it happened, when it's not a clear and obvious error - this changes the course of the game. At this level, I'm sorry, but this cannot happen.*
“The decision and then what happens for a period of time. The referee has to watch it 13 times – it’s clearer than that. It's impossible, and yeah, we are all fuming about it.
“[The crowd] has nothing to do with that. I'm sure they are well aware of what the reaction is going to be. It's normal, that reaction, we need to apply the rules. The same thing I'm saying, they applied the rules on the Ben White 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.
“They have a process, and whatever they do, they should believe it's the right thing. I have nothing to say. I'm just saying, I'm judging the action and the manner that happens, the way it got overturned.
“When you have fought so hard for nine months to be in this position, that's another goal that changed completely in the course of the tie, and it cannot happen - I'm sorry. We put so much on it, so, so, so much on it. This cannot happen. I'll 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 gone, and that's it. Let's talk about football.
“It's a decision that they clear. Okay, they stick to it, because that's the rules. What does it mean coaching the players to accept that? When there is something different, when you play in the same part of the Champions League and change it, it cannot happen.
“I'm very proud, I said that to the boys. We've handled any kind of context for nine and a half months, which is remarkable. I really value what they’ve done because I've seen some of the best teams in the world fall apart here. We didn't get the result that we wanted.
“The way we planned the game, we wanted to win it, but at least it's in our hands, in front of our people, to be in that final. And in a week’s time, we're going to have the opportunity