Dani Carvajal confronts Bukayo Saka at half-time and grabs him by the neck
Bukayo Saka was guilty of a penalty miss at a crucial time in the Champions League clash against Real Madrid – a Panenka that Thibaut Courtois read easily and parried away.
It meant Arsenal missed the chance to go 4-0 up on aggregate with an early goal at the Bernabeu, and the Englishman was confronted by injured Madrid captain Dani Carvajal at half-time – seemingly over the manner in which he took the spot-kick. Even so, that was not the end of the penalty drama. Here is how it unravelled:
Getting a penalty was not even on Arsenal’s radar as Courtois caught Declan Rice’s corner and tried to get Real Madrid up the pitch. When play had stopped, some 90 seconds later, French referee François Letexier rushed over to the pitchside monitor on the request of VAR.
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He watched as Mikel Merino was having his shirt pulled and being held by Real centre-back Raúl Asencio, who hauled the Arsenal midfielder to the ground as the corner came in. Champions League winner, Rio Ferdinand, commented on TNT Sports that it was “suicidal” defending. It was an easy decision to give the penalty.
It did take time for Letexier to trot over to the monitor, make his decision and then get back to the penalty area. The time for a VAR decision to be made was frustrating – and would get worse later in the game. But at the time Arsenal needed to protect Saka from Real players getting in his face and trying to get in his head with any comments as he prepared for the penalty.
Martin Odegaard took control of the ball and stood on the spot, waiting for the commotion to settle before Saka stepped forward to take his spot-kick. This all took time. And as is the trend with modern penalty-takers, they take their time after the whistle to show they are in control of the situation, rather than rushed.
It takes nerve to even attempt a panenka. But Saka got it all wrong on this occasion. There was no disguise in his run-up. He did not keep an eye on Courtois to see him move early and floated his chip in the direction of the Belgium keeper. Had it gone down the middle there would have been a chance of finding the net. Courtois could easily get a glove on the penalty and push away.
Arsenal fans looked stunned into silence in the stands, while Courtois led the celebrations. The Real keeper roared in the face of his team-mates and whipped up the crowd behind him. TNT broadcasters could not believe Saka tried such a penalty, rather than fire it into one of the corners.
Thibaut Courtois led the Madrid celebrations after saving Saka’s penalty down to his right – Getty Images/Angel Martinez
The drama was not finished there, though, with injured Madrid full-back Carvajal – who would normally have been marking Saka – confronting him as the teams went in for half-time. Saka reacted angrily, with Carvajal pursuing him towards the tunnel. Ben White was among those who intervened as the situation threatened to spiral out of control as Carvajal put his hand on the back of Saka’s neck.
At the other end, Real thought they had their own penalty when Kylian Mbappe went down under the challenge of Declan Rice. Rice may have had his arm on Mbappe but it was very soft, with Mbappe throwing himself to the ground. Rice immediately protested his innocence, saying he had not committed a foul.
It should have been easy enough for VAR and Letexier to clear up, so why it took almost five minutes to make a decision was anyone’s guess. Fans in the stadium were left clueless as VAR slowed down the game completely.
Eventually Letexier was sent to the monitor to overturn his call. Rice had his yellow card rescinded and Real were disappointed in their quest to get an early goal back.
