Mikel Arteta slams ‘unacceptable’ referee as Arsenal stung by ‘garbage’ penalty decision 

Mikel Arteta was left furious after Arsenal had a penalty controversially overturned against Atletico Madrid. 

With the score at 1-1 in the 78th minute of their semi-final first leg, the Gunners were awarded a penalty when Eberechi Eze went down inside the box after David Hancko’s challenge.

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Replays showed Eze getting a toe on the ball before Hancko could get there, who appeared to catch the Arsenal star late, sending him to ground.

Referee Danny Makkelie immediately pointed to the spot, with Mikel Arteta‘s side being given a huge chance to go 2-1 up.

But there was a twist in store, as Makkelie was then instructed to review the decision at the VAR monitor,

Atletico boss Diego Simeone could be seen protesting on the touchline while the official took his time watching replays.

Makkelie then returned from the monitor to announce he had overturned the penalty decision, leaving Arsenal’s players in disbelief, and being forced to settle for a draw ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg.

Arteta slams ‘wrong decision’

This proved a hugely controversial call, and Gunners boss Arteta was unable to hide his fury in his post-match interview.

Asked about the penalty, he fumed: “The decision getting overturned, extremely disappointed. 

“It was against the rules, I don’t understand it and it changes the course of the tie.

“Very, very upset… it’s clear contact, you cannot overturn the decision when you need to look at the incident 13 times. It’s unacceptable.”

Pressed on whether the referee was influenced by the crowd, Arteta replied: “I don’t know, that’s a question for him.

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“But it was the wrong decision and has changed the course of the tie.”

Penalty outrage

The disallowed penalty also had talkSPORT commentators Darren Bent and Jim Proudfoot scratching their heads.

Reacting to the on-field decision, Bent said: “It can’t be. The amount of time it took… you knew he was going to overturn it.

“There’s clear contact. Even though it’s minimal.

“But that can’t be right to overturn it. It was like they were looking for reasons not to give it. It’s not clear and obvious.”

Proudfoot was even more strong in his assessment, who weighed in: “I’m quite sure that’s the wrong decision.

“If it takes that long, then it quite clearly isn’t a clear and obvious error.

“That’s garbage. That’s rubbish.”

It didn’t take long for people to weigh in with their reaction on social media, including Arsenal legend Ian Wright.

The former Gunners forward was left enraged by the penalty controversy, blasting the call online.

Taking to X, Wright shared three swearing emojis and wrote: “Knew he’d buckle! Home side gets that pen!”

Attached to Wright’s post was a screenshot of Atleti defender David Hancko making clear contact with Eze’s foot.

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Double blow

Arsenal’s disallowed penalty wasn’t the only refereeing decision that left Arteta fuming at full-time.

After Viktor Gyokeres gave the Gunners the lead from the spot in the first half, Atletico levelled things up 10 minutes into the second period with a penalty of their own from Julian Alvarez.

However, the decision to award the spot-kick proved controversial, with the ball striking Ben White‘s trailing arm after he rushed to the edge of the penalty area to close down Marcos Llorente’s volley.

While this was initially missed by the referee, a VAR check ensued, with Makkelie ultimately awarding Atletico a penalty.

Arteta appeared less than impressed with the call, commenting after the match: “It’s the rule they’ve brought in, I have nothing to say about that… but the one that was overturned has to be a penalty.

“That cannot happen at this level.”