• 8 months ago
Furious Harry Kane has claimed that Gabriel's handball fiasco last night was the 'clearest penalty' he'd ever seen, while his Bayern Munich comrades also fumed at a 'stupid' situation.

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes handled the ball in the second half after David Raya played a short pass to him, with Bayern leading 2-1 at the time.

Referee Glenn Nyberg had blown his whistle but there was a misunderstanding, with Gabriel thinking he was taking the goal kick.

Nyberg was lenient and allowed play to continue - a decision that sparked fury on the pitch, on the sidelines, and in Germany - before Arsenal went on to equalize through Leandro Trossard.

'We should have gotten a clear penalty when the referee blew his whistle,' Kane vented.

'The goalkeeper passed the ball and Gabriel took it into his hands. That’s the clearest penalty I’ve ever seen.'

Bayern had to settle for a 2-2 draw in a thrilling match. Bukayo Saka had put Arsenal ahead in the first half, but Serge Gnabry equalized before Kane put the German giants ahead from the spot, courtesy of Leroy Sane drawing a foul from William Saliba.

Muller was seething with the decision to let Gabriel off the hook. He said: 'The referee saw it. The mistake was too stupid and petty for him to award a penalty. But he doesn't have to decide that.

'The referee is there to enforce the rules. Even if you may not be satisfied with the rule. I don't think the rule says: OK if it wasn't intentional, put the ball down again for a goal kick... I don't know what it says. I think it’s a clear penalty.'

Thomas Tuchel was apoplectic when speaking about the referee's allowance for Gabriel, branding Nyberg's justification as 'horrible'.

'For me, for all of us, he (the referee) made a huge mistake not giving the handball penalty,' he said.

'I know it is a crazy situation but they put the ball down, he whistles, gives it, and the defender [Gabriel] takes it in his hand.

‘What makes us angry is the explanation on the field. He told our players that it was a “kid’s mistake” and he would not give a penalty like this in a quarter-final.

'This is a horrible, horrible explanation. He is judging handballs. Kid’s mistake, adult’s mistake. Whatever. We feel angry because it is a huge decision against us.’

German tabloid Bild felt that Bayern had been robbed, starting their piece on the controversy with the exclamation: 'That would have been victory!'

Even on English shores, the opinion of pundits is that Arsenal - and Gabriel - escaped an ignominious punishment for his mistake.

While Gabriel's mistake was understandable - he just thought Raya was teeing him up to take the goal kick - at the highest level, it is clear he dodged a bullet.

Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports: 'It's a pen, oh my gosh. How can that not be given?

'I was so adamant that [Bukayo] Saka's one was, I'm even more for this. It's unbelievable. How can he blow the whistle like that and not give it?'

Martin Keown labeled it 'absolutely in

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