Diego Simeone makes Viktor Gyokeres dive claim over first Arsenal penalty against Atletico | OneFootball

Atletico head coach gives verdict on all three penalty decisions from controversial Champions League semi-final first leg

Diego Simeone believes Arsenal's penalty against Atletico Madrid should have been overturned, suggesting that Viktor Gyokeres dived to win the foul.

Gyokeres gave Arsenal the lead from the spot in the final minute of the first half, after appearing to be pushed over by David Hancko, before Julian Alvarez levelled it up after the break when Ben White was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area.

Viktor Gyokeres goes down before winning a penalty

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Must has been made of the third penalty decision, with Mikel Arteta branding it "unacceptable", but it was the first which Simeone was keen to rail against after the 1-1 draw.

"The first penalty, in my opinion, there is contact from behind, the player waits for the contact and goes down," he told reporters.

"In a Champions League semi-final, you need a penalty that is really a penalty. The referee felt it was.

"In the other incident [the referee] felt, thanks to VAR, that it was a penalty, because first it wasn’t [deemed] handball, and then, in the second one, also thanks to VAR, that it wasn’t a penalty.

"VAR sometimes gives to you and sometimes takes away."

Atletico will head to London next week for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.