During their punditry duties, Martin Keown and Ian Wright found themselves at odds over the referee’s decision not to award a penalty to Arsenal towards the end of their match against Bayern Munich.
The Gunners contended that Manuel Neuer had fouled Bukayo Saka as the attacker was bearing down on goal.
However, replays appeared to show Saka attempting to initiate contact, and Neuer refrained from engaging with him before the attacker fell to the ground, potentially when he could still have scored for Arsenal.
Saka expressed his frustration at not being awarded a penalty, a sentiment echoed by some Arsenal supporters who believed the decision went against their team.
Nevertheless, both the referee and VAR were resolute in their assertion that it was not a penalty and that the correct call had been made.
Keown and Wright found themselves in disagreement over the decision, highlighting differing perspectives on the incident.
Keown raged, as quoted by The Sun: “If you had ten top refs here tonight, nine of them would’ve given it. This referee would be the only one to not give it. I find it quite alarming.”
But Wright disagreed, saying: “Not a pen for me. Work to do in Munich.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
That decision will continue to divide opinion, but Saka could have scored that goal if he stayed on his feet.
We now have our work cut out in the second leg in Germany and have to do better to earn a win.
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Yea 9 out of 10 might have given it but VAR would have overturned it ,so the 1 at of 10 Ref got it spot on .
Not sure what Martin k is talking about .
A 100 % penalty for me, just as Gabriel’s handball was a 100% penalty for them in my opinion DK.
IF it’s true that Saka could / would have scored, then why didn’t he?
It would have been an open goal once he had got past the keeper, while a penalty can always be missed.
Kane should also have been sent off for the elbow, but, overall a fair result.
I think Keown might have changed his mind after re-watching this a few times since. His outburst was on the pitch at a time when he was unable to watch in slo-mo like the rest of us to see how Saka placed his leg to make contact, and will need to do better than that to fool a keeper of Neuer’s experience.