Mikel Arteta fumes at VAR's Arsenal penalty call that was 'against the rules'

Mikel Arteta fumed after seeing Arsenal's late penalty overturned, claiming the referee's eventual decision is "against the rules". Arsenal return to London with their last-four clash still finely poised after Atletico Madrid pegged them back in the second half. Viktor Gyokeres scored the first penalty of the evening after he was bundled over in the box just before the interval. The Spanish side's equaliser came from 12 yards, but only after VAR advised the referee to take a look at the monitor. He originally waved away the appeals but replays showed Ben White had handled the ball and Julian Alvarez hammered home. Despite the hosts pushing for a winner it was the Premier League side who looked to have got the perfect chance to score a winner. Eberechi Eze went down after David Hancko had stuck out a foot. The Atletico defender immediately protesting his innocence. The referee eventually went to the screen and, with the home players pleading their cases, opted to overturn his original decision after seeing multiple replays. The Arsenal boss told TNT Sports : "Well after going into the dressing room and speaking to the boys and understanding and watching the penalty incident for the second one, getting it overturned, extremely disappointed and annoyed because it was against the rules and I don't understand it. It changes the course of the tie, so very, very upset." He went on to say: "You cannot overturn that decision when you see it 13 times. It was a wrong decision." Despite the controversy surrounding the penalty against White, Arteta claimed he can accept it, given the interpretation in the Champions League. "It is the rule and they've been quite consistent with that," he said. "So on that one if you're going to give a penalty for that kind of thing you have to accept it. I have nothing to say with that, but the other one cannot happen at this level." Gyokeres, who was on the bench when Eze's penalty controversy took place, claimed: "I don't know why they turned it down, it looks like contact, but its their decision." Much is often made of the extremely low threshold for awarding penalties in the Champions League . The clear and obvious error approach that is taken in the Premier League is not replicate on the European stage. On Tuesday, Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies was pinned for a contentious handball, which allowed PSG to score from 12 yards in their 5-4 success. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.