Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal could have “easily” been awarded a penalty against PSG in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday.
The Gunners ultimately lost the match following a penalty shootout after the game ended 1-1 after extra time in Budapest.
Kai Havertz got Arsenal off to the perfect start when he scored five minutes after kickoff at the Puskas Arena.
The north London outfit successfully limited PSG to very few chances in the first half, but the two sides were back on level terms in the 65th minute.
Referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot when Cristhian Mosquera took down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box and Ousmane Dembele converted the subsequent spot kick.
Neither side could be separated from that point on and so the game went to penalties. Both Eberechi Eze and Nuno Mendes missed their attempts before Gabriel Magalhaes skied his effort over the bar, handing PSG a second successive Champions League win.
It was a painful way for Arsenal’s dream of winning the competition for the first time ever to end after proving themselves as one of the top clubs in Europe this season.
“Yes, it is very tough to accept when you are so consistent in the competition all the way to the final and in the end you lose the trophy on penalty kicks, so it is a difficult one,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
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The Spaniard added: “We haven’t done it for 22 years, so imagine the second time in our history that we have done it, and we need to recognise the season we had, but at the moment nobody is going to take the pain away from you.”
Arteta: Arsenal could ‘easily’ have had a penalty against PSG
Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty of their own when Noni Madueke was seemingly brought down in the box by Nuno Mendes, but the referee waved away their protests. Replays vindicated his decision, as Madueke had hooked the defender’s arm to bring him down.
“I watch it back and it could easily be a penalty,” Arteta argued. “Especially we see the penalty they gave me this year in the competition.
“This season, the referee made a decision, and he made a different one with Cristhian Mosquera and that is an important one.”
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