"He’s trying to initiate the contact" - Ian Wright left surprised by Arsenal star's antics in 2-2 Bayern Munich draw
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has opened up on Bukayo Saka's penalty shout in the dying embers of the Gunners' recent 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich. The north London giants could only salvage a stalemate against the Bavarian giants in their return to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 12th minute before Bayern Munich scored twice in the first half, capitalizing on individual mistakes from Mikel Arteta's side. Leandro Trossard scored a late equalizer for the Gunners and saved the day.
The game had its fair share of controversies and one of those was very late in the game with Bukayo Saka's appeal for a penalty being turned down. The England international went down inside the box, seemingly caught by Manuel Neuer during added time but the referee did not award a spot kick.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright insisted that the official made the right call and opined that Saka was inviting contact from Neuer. He also claimed that had Saka kept his footing, he could have had a tap-in but decided to go to the ground. The pundit said on Wrighty’s House podcast, as quoted by Metro:
"I don’t think it’s a penalty. Whatever angle you see, Saka’s gone in and moved the ball with his left foot. At that point you should be moving to your left but for some reason his leg actually went out to the right. This is why it felt very strange for him to be fouled in that manner. He shouldn’t be anywhere near Neuer, his right leg shouldn’t be there, it should be coming across to the left-hand side to tap the ball into the net. If he gets past him and stands on his feet, then he gets the tap-in."
Wright added:
"I thought it was strange that his body was moving the other way. It seems to me that his body is moving that way because that’s where the goalkeeper is and he’s trying to initiate the contact. I’m sorry, that’s how I see it. I’m just confused because the ball has gone to the left and Neuer has stopped so Saka doesn’t have to avoid him. If we’re going to be honest about it – and I’m going to be honest – I wanted it to be a penalty more than anything else. But if the ball is going that way I don’t know why he’s going the other."
Wright also claimed that Bukayo Saka could have targeted Alphonso Davies with the Canada international being booked very early in the game. He said:
"I wouldn’t expect anything less from our manager [Mikel Arteta] in respects of the positivity [in his post-match interview]. But he will probably look at that game and think about our guy – Saka, the star boy – because Alphonso Davies was booked, he was on a yellow so I’m thinking, he’s got to go at him a bit more, go at him."
Arsenal will travel to the Allianz Arena for the second leg which will take place on Wednesday, April 17.
Jamie Carragher makes a special request to UEFA following Manchester City and Arsenal UCL ties
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has urged UEFA to have staggered starting times for the Champions League knockout stage games. Arsenal and Manchester City were both in action on Tuesday, April 9, in the quarter-finals and both settled for pulsating draws against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively.
Carragher was seemingly finding it difficult to catch up with both games at the same time. In his tweet, the former Liverpool defender urged UEFA to consider starting staggered kickoff times. He tweeted:
"Can we stagger the kick-offs in the #ChampionsLeague knockouts please @UEFA?"
Manchester City won the Champions League for the first time in their history last time out while Arsenal are yet to win their first-ever European trophy. Both sides are also in the hunt for the Premier League title this season and are embroiled in a three-horse title race with Liverpool.