While all the focus after Arsenal’s Champions League thriller against Bayern Munich was on the controversial decision not to award the Gunners a last-gasp penalty, Thomas Tuchel has claimed it was actually his side that should have been given a second spot-kick.
The outgoing Bayern boss was referring to an incident that appeared to be missed by most fans and pundits during the second half of Tuesday night’s absorbing quarter-final first-leg tie that ended in a 2-2 draw, when Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg blew his whistle for Arsenal to take a goal kick.
In footage that has since been circulating on social media, goalkeeper David Raya proceeds to pass the ball sideways after the whistle to Gabriel, who then picks it up and places it down again before knocking it back to Raya as play continues.
It was an incident that did not appear to raise any questions or controversy at the time, but Tuchel was hugely critical of the referee after the game and claimed he admitted he had seen the error that occurred with his side still leading 2-1 with just under 25 minutes to play at the Emirates Stadium, but did not want to punish what was allegedly labelled as a “kid’s mistake”.
Bayern had earlier taken the lead through a cool Harry Kane spot-kick following William Saliba’s foul on Leroy Sane, with Serge Gnabry having initially equalised against his former club following Bukayo Saka’s early opener in north London.
Substitute Leandro Trossard eventually restored parity for Arsenal off the bench, with the hosts left fuming after Saka was denied a penalty in the final seconds of second-half stoppage time after a risky challenge from Manuel Neuer.
“I think the referee did not have the courage today to give a deserved penalty in a bit of a crazy and awkward situation,” said former Chelsea head coach Tuchel, referring to the goal-kick incident, to TNT Sports.
“But he admitted on the pitch that he saw the situation and that a quarter-final is not enough for him to give a penalty for a kid’s mistake, so he admitted that he knows about the mistake the player made.
“That’s a bit frustrating.”
Asked what incident he was referring to, Tuchel said: “It was a goal kick off, the goalkeeper passed to a central defender and one touched the ball with the hand because he thought it was not in game but it was in game and the referee admitted it was in game and was handball. Very frustrating.
“We were relentless and kept on believing and kept fighting. Everything is open now.”
