While Arsenal salvaged a draw late on in the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League clash against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night, Mikel Arteta won’t be overly pleased with his team’s performance – and pundit Gabby Agbonlahor certainly believes the Gunners got away with it.
Robert Andrich gave Leverkusen the lead a minute after the break, heading home at the back post to open up a cagey affair. The North Londoners pushed for an equaliser and eventually found it near the end, with Kai Havertz dispatching a dubious penalty won by Noni Madueke.
The second leg takes places at the Emirates next week, and although Arteta’s outfit are in a strong position to progress into the last four, they’ll have to play significantly better than they did in Germany. Arsenal were sterile at the BayArena, and concerns are certainly starting to grow amongst the club’s supporters.
Gabby Agbonlahor says Arsenal were fortunate against Bayer Leverkusen
It can certainly be argued that Arsenal were fortunate to emerge from the Rhineland without suffering defeat. The Gunners failed to create much on the night, and were ultimately saved by a penalty many felt was soft.
Madueke drove in between two Leverkusen players and into the box before Malick Tillman’s clumsy challenge brought him down. Replays showed that the England international’s left foot was clipped by Tillman, although the general sentiment doesn’t favour the Arsenal winger, with many claiming that he went to ground too easily.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Aston Villa striker was incensed that a ‘terrible’ Arsenal performance was helped out by this controversial refereeing decision. However, this wasn’t the only issue the radio host had with the officials on the night.
Agbonlahor also claimed that Martin Zubimendi should’ve been shown a red card on two separate occassions.
“Arsenal were terrible,” he said.
“Leverkusen were by far the better team. First half, Martinelli had a great opportunity where he smashed one, left foot off the bar. But apart from that, Leverkusen were the better team, and they should feel very unlucky.
“There were two instances for me where Zubimendi should have been sent off. He got a yellow card, and then Madueke dived for a penalty. Blatant dive.
“Mr. biased Martin Keown during the game last night said it was a definite penalty. It’s getting a bit silly now. He’s biased towards Arsenal. Definite dive, and I’m just surprised that VAR didn’t overturn it. So Arsenal, very lucky and another boring game to watch.”
Gabby Agbonlahor is wrong with his assessment of Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal
While Arsenal’s performance certainly wasn’t at the level Arteta would’ve hoped for, Agbonlahor’s assessment reeks of his own biases. The Gunners played a tight game where they looked to reduce the volume of incidents, and ultimately left in a strong position to progress next week.
Comparatively, their Premier League rivals all left their first leg in a much more perilous position, proving just how difficult Champions League knockout football can be. Perhaps Agbonalhor’s explosive tirade should have focused on one of Manchester City, Chelsea or Liverpool.
As for the penalty incident, the pundit is completely incorrect. While it’s not the most reckless tackle from Tillman, there is clearly contact that prompts Madueke to lose his footing, which is sufficient for a spot-kick. If the American hadn’t made this intervention, the Gunners forward would’ve been in a very dangerous position and could easily have scored.
Regarding Zubimendi’s supposed red card, it’s not even clear what Agbonlahor was referring to. The Spaniard committed two fouls on the night, neither of which was particularly cynical or reckless. The pundit is nitpicking.
