It was a see-saw tie. And if it lacked the beauty of Paris Saint-Germain versus Bayern Munich in the other Champions League semi-final, first-leg from Tuesday night, it still had drama; knife-edge tension.
It was a tale of three penalties, two scored, one by either team; the award of the last one rescinded amid wild scenes. That had stood to give Arsenal the opportunity to take a 2-1 lead to London next Tuesday. In the event, the referee, Danny Makkelie went to the pitchside screen and ruled that David Hancko’s contact on the Arsenal substitute, Eberechi Eze, in the 78th minute was not strong enough.
When it was over and the hearts had stopped hammering, Arsenal could be happy. They had grown into the first-half and one-nil to the Ar-se-nal sounded good when it was belted out by the travelling fans at the interval.
Viktor Gyökeres had scored, after winning the penalty himself and Arsenal were set fair. The second-half was a different story, Atletico deserving of their equaliser when Julian Alvarez converted from 12 yards. Both awards were letter of the law decisions.Atlético were merely relieved that a third one did not follow. There remains everything to play for.
The storm from the heavens did not materialise, the extreme weather warning something of a false alarm. But from the moment that AC/DC’s Thunderstruck was blasted over the PA system before kick-off, the stadium was alive. Arsenal had to weather Atlético’s initial surge. And it was an aggressive one. Of course, it was. There were a few jitters in the early running from Arsenal and it was vital that they emerged from it unscathed.
