Fuss about bizarre kicking scene
Arsenal’s “childish mistake” leaves FC Bayern stunned
April 10, 2024, 12:20 a.m
In the Champions League, FC Bayern showed what they were made of: At Arsenal FC, the team delivered a strong performance and worked out a brilliant position for the quarter-final second leg. Coach Thomas Tuchel praises his players and curses the referee.
Immediately after the final whistle, Thomas Tuchel was in a good mood. In conversation with Leroy Sané and Gabriel Jesus, he couldn’t hide how much he enjoyed this evening at the Emirates Stadium. After the embarrassment in the Bundesliga against promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim (2:3), his FC Bayern had shaken themselves up and suddenly discovered the top team gene in themselves again in the Champions League. The first duel with Arsenal FC ended 2-2 (1-2), a good starting position for the quarter-final second leg next Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker). The dream of a reconciliatory end to the turbulent relationship between Tuchel and his club lives on.
And the situation could have been much better for the very robust Munich team, who became increasingly self-confident during the game. If Kingsley Coman hadn’t just hit the post in stoppage time. And when the referee Glenn Nyberg, who was still inexperienced at this level, whistled another penalty for FC Bayern in the second half. The first one came after 32 minutes. Leroy Sané was illegally stopped by William Saliba after an outstanding solo. Harry Kane took advantage of the chance and made it 1-2 against the Gunners with his 15th personal goal. The game was over.
First, Bukayo Saka scored a great goal (12th), Serge Gnabry equalized a little later after an outstanding counterattack by the Munich team. In between, Manuel Neuer prevented the possible 0:2 against the free-standing Ben White. No Munich resident would want to imagine what would have happened then. So the game tipped towards the guests, who had to travel without fans. They were banned from the duel by UEFA after several pyrotechnic offenses. From the previously highly rated “Gunners”, leaders in the Premier League, there wasn’t much more to come offensively. Almost all of their efforts fell apart against the Bavarian wall that Tuchel had built deep in their own half. The coach was correspondingly satisfied with the performance. A little bit with the result, but not at all with the referee.
“Completely new form of rule interpretation”
Tuchel complained on Prime Video that his team did not get a “crystal clear hand penalty”. He was referring to a scene in the second half in which Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya played a goal kick to Gabriel, who was positioned in the six-yard box. The Brazilian picked up the ball in his hand, put it back on the turf and passed it back to Raya, the game continued. The Bayern players look questioningly at the referee, spread their arms, and are stunned. What was going on there?
The referee blew his whistle shortly before the goal kick was taken. Nyberg told the players that it was a kid’s mistake and that he wouldn’t whistle that in a quarter-final, said Tuchel. “That’s a completely new way of interpreting the rules. It was a 100% penalty that we didn’t get. Simply unbelievable.” The very emotional coach also criticized the fact that the Arsenal professionals could complain “as they wanted.” Almost all “little things went in one direction, physical contact was whistled off.” The referee’s decisions “hurt at this level.”
Former Bundesliga referee and Amazon expert Lutz Wagner disagreed with his assessment of the hand scene. “The referee whistled during the kick-off. He doesn’t have to whistle this kick-off, but he did.” This whistle contributed to the irritation of the players. Gabriel would probably never have picked up the ball otherwise. The referee finally took back the misleading action and had it carried out again. It was an illegal scene, but “football doesn’t want a penalty like that,” said Wagner. Joshua Kimmich saw it differently, for him it wasn’t a “childish mistake, in the end it was decisive and bitter that we didn’t get him.” Kane was even clearer: “That’s the clearest penalty I’ve ever seen.”