Julian Alvarez’s penalty secured Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in a nervy Champions League semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday.
Viktor Gyokeres sent the Premier League leaders ahead from the spot just before the interval after he was fouled, but Alvarez followed suit 10 minutes into the second half after Ben White’s handball.
Arsenal were upset at a late penalty decision being overturned following a VAR review when David Hancko made contact with Eberechi Eze in the area.
Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now >
“After going back into the dressing room, speaking to the boys and watching the penalty incident, it’s extremely disappointed and annoyed because it was against the rules and it changes the course of the tie. I’m very, very upset,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT about the overturned penalty.
“The whole sequence. There is clear contact, you make the decision you cannot overturn that decision when you have to look at it 13 times. It’s completely unacceptable at this level.
“It’s the wrong decision and it changes the course of the tie. That cannot happen at this level.”
Former Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman added on TNT Sports: “We are going down a rabbit hole with VAR. It is a legitimate penalty that the referee has given and that should be the end of it.”
Atletico had the better for long periods but Arsenal’s solid defending helped them leave the Spanish capital in a good position to return to the Champions League final 20 years after their last appearance.
What the game lacked in the dizzying goal rush of Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the other semi-final the night before, it replaced with tension and a desperation not to fall behind.
Toilet paper rained down from the stands of the Metropolitano stadium minutes before kick-off, in a striking — if wasteful — display, which invited cynical jokes from some quarters about the calibre of the spectacle ahead.
In a tussle between arguably the continent’s two biggest teams never to lay a finger on the trophy neither wanted to blink first.
Atletico still have an outdated defensive reputation but pinned Mikel Arteta’s miserly Arsenal back in the early stages, with David Raya tipping Alvarez’s shot around the post.
The Gunners, a long way from Arteta’s eve-of-the-game demand they dominate proceedings, looked to smash and grab, with Marc Pubill blocking from Martin Odegaard on a quick breakaway.
Noni Madueke, starting on Arsenal’s right flank with Bukayo Saka only fit for the bench, hammered just wide from distance as last year’s beaten semi-finalists sporadically emerged from their half.
The next time they did, Gyokeres won a penalty. The Swedish striker, who might not have started if Kai Havertz was fit, exchanged passes with Martin Zubimendi and Hancko clumsily shoved him in the back from behind.
Diego Simeone and Atletico veteran Antoine Griezmann begged for the decision to be reviewed but VAR saw no reason to intervene.
Gyokeres took the spot-kick himself, walloping it past Jan Oblak, who dived the right way but stood no chance of keeping it out.
Three-time runners-up Atletico, back in the semi-finals for the first time in nine years, came out guns blazing in the second half.
Raya saved Ademola Lookman’s drive with Gabriel blocking Griezmann’s follow-up.
The hosts pulled level from the penalty spot after White handled Marcos Llorente’s shot, the ball bouncing up and hitting his arm, which was away from his body.
Alvarez took it, and having missed in Atletico’s Copa del Rey final shootout defeat earlier in April, this time made no mistake with an unforgiving blast rivalling Gyokeres’s first-half effort.
MLS-bound Griezmann looped a shot off the crossbar and then sent the rebound off target as Atletico turned the screw in pursuit of an advantage to take into next Tuesday’s second leg.
Nigeria international Lookman twice came close and could end up ruing his missed chances.
Arsenal thought they had won a second penalty when substitute Eze went down under a sluggish Hancko challenge but the referee changed his mind after a VAR review, deciding the Slovakian defender’s contact was minimal.
“The Champions League is the best football by a mile, but these penalty decisions for handball really are a stain on the competition,” Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher tweeted.
“Last night’s was worse but that should not be a penalty against White.”
Former England striker Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “There were two shocking decisions which went against Arsenal.
“I didn’t think it was a handball by Ben White because the ball deflected off his shin first and his arm is out a little bit but the fact is it came off his shin first.
“And Hancko, clumsy as you like, steps on part of Eze’s foot and they don’t really protest – I always think that’s the biggest tell from players.
“When you see the referee go to the monitor you know what’s going to happen, but I would have liked to see the referee be stronger in that moment. He gave it in real time and from everything I see from the monitor there was contact on Eze’s foot. The penalty should have been awarded and Arsenal should be going back to the Emirates in a much stronger position.”
Arsenal next take on Fulham as they continue their battle with Manchester City for the Premier League title, while with little to play for in La Liga Simeone will rotate heavily, before this tie is decided in London.