Arsenal were able to breathe a sigh of relief in the first half of the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid when the hosts had a penalty overturned by VAR.
The Gunners headed into the clash at the Bernabeu with a 3-0 aggregate lead from last week’s first leg.
And, Mikel Arteta’s side had the chance to extend their advantage in the 13th minute when they were awarded a spot kick after Raul Asensio was adjudged to have fouled Mikel Merino by VAR.
However, disaster struck for Arsenal as Bukayo Saka saw his panenka penalty attempt saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Then, in the 23rd minute, Real were handed a penalty of their own with referee Francois Letexier ruling that Declan Rice had pulled back Kylian Mbappe inside the box, with the French star falling to the ground.
Rice, who was left fuming, was subsequently booked and it did appear to be a very soft call.
UEFA have a released statement confirming why Real Madrid’s penalty was overturned
The incident underwent a lengthy review by VAR, lasting five minutes, before Letexier was sent to the screen.
After taking a look himself, the Frenchman reversed his decision and took away the yellow card he handed to Rice.
And, shortly after the call, UEFA released a statement explaining the decision.
‘The penalty for Real Madrid has been taken away due to a non-foul by Declan Rice,’ it read.
The five minutes it took to review the incident was heavily criticised, with Ally McCoist and Rio Ferdinand expressing their dissatisfaction with the VAR process.
Speaking on commentary, McCoist also expressed his relief that such a soft penalty hadn’t been given.
‘Does he give Mbappe a yellow card?,’ he said. ‘I’m putting my cards on the table right now – I am delighted to see that decision.’
Meanwhile, Theo Walcott, speaking on the BBC, echoed those thoughts and was critical of the referee.
‘The referee has created this situation where he gave that penalty to Real,’ he added. ‘It was the right decision to overturn it.’
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