By Scott Trotter
Bayern Munich star Harry Kane admitted he would hope to have been awarded a penalty had one of his teammates had been felled in the manner of Bukayo Saka in the last moment of the game.
The German giants drew 2-2 with Arsenal on Tuesday evening with the Gunners denied a late opportunity for a winner when Saka was taken down in the box. The England international came into contact with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer but referee Glenn Nyberg saw no reason to point to the spot.
The winger was left furious when the full-time whistle went and ensured the Swedish official heard his complaints. The 22-year-old was incensed and had to be guided away by Arsenal coaching staff after he confronted Nyberg as he walked off the pitch.
The England international may have had some cause for complaint, with Kane understanding his gripe. However, his international teammate stopped short of suggesting it was a definite spot kick.
"If that happened to us, I would want the penalty," Kane told Amazon Prime. "But it’s a 50-50 decision."
Kane's Bayern colleagues are less convinced of Saka's claims however. Former Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel suggested the Arsenal youth product ran into Neuer having being set to lost the ball.
The Bayern boss said: "For me it was contact, but much too late. The ball was gone.
"He runs into Manu. Suddenly he blew the whistle. Then no one knew what was going on."
Defender Joshua Kimmich took a similar stance. Though the Germany star admitted he didn't have the best view of the incident.
"He just plays the ball away," he explained. "Manu makes the movement. For me it wasn’t an active foul movement. To be honest, I didn’t see it perfectly either."
Regardless, Arsenal can perhaps count themselves lucky to have not conceded a second penalty on the night too. The Bundesliga side were left frustrated after David Raya clearly passed the ball to Gabriel Magalhaes after Nyberg blew his whistle to restart the game before the Brazilian defender went on to handle the ball in an attempt to take the set piece for a second time.
Tuchel suggested the referee acknowledged his mistake. “I think the referee did not have the courage today to give a deserved penalty in a bit of a crazy and awkward situation,” Tuchel told 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 his mistake. He admitted he knew about the mistake the player made and that is a bit frustrating. It was from the goalkeeper, he was whistling and the keeper passed to the central defender…
"I am not sure which one it was but he touched the ball with his hand because he thought it is not in the game, but it was in the game. The referee admitted it was in game and it was a handball. It was not worth looking at the mistake which is very frustrating for our players and leaves us angry.”
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