When the final whistle blew at the end of a dramatic 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Emirates, Arsenal fans were still hoping that VAR might come to their rescue. They were convinced that they should have had a penalty just seconds beforehand, and were incandescent with rage that it had not been given.
Mikel Arteta and his players were pretty upset too, and Bukayo Saka looked suitably stunned. It was all an act, though. The Arsenal ace had tried to pilfer a penalty by kicking Manuel Neuer, who had rushed off his line to close Saka down as the winger surged into the Bayern box in the dying seconds.
It was never a foul, as clear a case of a player trying to con the referee as you're ever likely to see, but that didn't quell the sense of injustice around the Emirates, of course. It also didn't disguise the fact that an Arsenal victory would have been wholly undeserved.
Indeed, Bayern had been the better side after a nervy opening, and it was they who warranted a winner, with Kingsley Coman striking the post late on (the xG was 2.08 to 1.22 in the visitors' favour). As a frustrated Thomas Tuchel was at pains to point out afterwards, the visitors also had a far stronger case for a penalty of their own.
GOAL runs through the winners and losers after an absorbing Champions League quarter-final first leg in north London...
