Three penalties, one overturned decision, and a manager left seething on the touchline. The first leg of this Champions League semi-final at the Metropolitano delivered far more drama than the 1-1 scoreline suggests. Arsenal head back to Emirates Stadium with a decent away result — but Mikel Arteta is anything but satisfied.
The three-penalty match that left Arteta furious
Viktor Gyokeres broke the deadlock before half-time, converting from the spot after being brought down in the box. It was a clean, decisive finish — and Arsenal looked set to control the tie. Then came Julian Alvarez’s equaliser, slotting home after referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot for a handball against Ben White. From that moment, the match stopped being about football and became a referendum on officiating.
The third penalty incident proved the most explosive. Hancko caught Eze’s boot after the ball had been played. Makkelie initially awarded the spot-kick. VAR intervened, sent the Dutch referee to the monitor, and he reversed his own decision. Arteta’s reaction was immediate and unfiltered : “There is no clear and obvious error. And this changes the course of the game. At this level, I’m sorry, but this cannot happen.”
When pressed on whether officials explained the reversal, Arteta pushed back hard : “A referee has to watch it 13 times — what’s more clear than that ? It’s impossible, and we are all fuming.” Thirteen reviews. That detail alone tells you everything about how contested the decision really was.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the three penalty moments that defined the night :
- Gyokeres penalty (Arsenal) : Clear foul in the box, no controversy — scored.
- Alvarez penalty (Atletico) : Handball against Ben White, debatable under Premier League standards — scored.
- Eze penalty (Arsenal) : Hancko caught Eze’s boot, awarded then overturned after VAR review — cancelled.
Why the VAR reversal was almost certainly wrong
The comparison with a previous Arsenal match is impossible to ignore. Back in the last-16 first leg against Bayer Leverkusen, Noni Madueke won a late penalty when Malik Tillman landed on his boot — contact that was, frankly, marginal. BBC Sport discussed that incident with a senior figure within UEFA’s refereeing structure, who confirmed that even where a penalty might be undesirable, minimal contact leaves VAR with no justification to override the on-field call.
Fast-forward to Wednesday night : Hancko clearly made contact with Eze’s boot after the ball was gone. Soft ? Yes. A clear and obvious error from the referee ? Based on UEFA’s own stated logic, absolutely not. The on-field decision should have stood. No ambiguity, no grey area — just a standard that UEFA itself established weeks earlier.
The Premier League operates with the same principle. If the Madueke decision stays as a penalty kick — and it did — then the Eze decision should too. The bar for VAR intervention is clear and obvious error, not “we think it might be too soft.” Arteta’s anger is not just emotional; it’s analytically justified.
| Incident | Competition | VAR intervention | Final decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madueke vs Leverkusen | Champions League R16 | No | Penalty awarded |
| Eze vs Atletico Madrid | Champions League SF | Yes (overturned) | Penalty cancelled |
The handball debate — two different rulebooks in play
Ben White’s handball is where pundit opinion gets genuinely divided. Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard suggested Makkelie was “influenced” by the previous night’s decision in Paris, where Alphonso Davies conceded a penalty for Bayern Munich against PSG. Gerrard’s view was blunt : officials saw a similar situation and followed suit without applying independent judgment. Stephen Warnock, also speaking on TNT Sports, was equally direct — that handball simply does not get given in the Premier League.
The technical distinction matters here. What referees look for under UEFA guidelines is a clear change of trajectory — if the ball deflects off the body before hitting the arm but stays on roughly its intended path, the handball takes precedence. For Davies the previous night, his arm was too close to his body; in the Premier League, no penalty. For White, his arm was extended well away from his body and moved toward the ball — a clear penalty under UEFA’s definition, even with a slight deflection off his shin.
Match of the Day pundit Nedum Onuoha offered a more balanced take, acknowledging that “all three penalties, if given, were quite soft,” while admitting he understands why VAR wanted a second look at Eze’s incident. But understanding the impulse doesn’t mean the decision was correct.
Arsenal now return to north London holding a 1-1 draw — a result that feels simultaneously creditable and deeply frustrating. The second leg at Emirates Stadium will be played with this refereeing controversy hanging over the tie. One practical takeaway for Arteta heading into that game : his side created enough to win this match, which means the attacking quality is there. The question now is whether they can convert without needing the officials to get every call right — because on Wednesday night, they clearly couldn’t count on that.
