Match report: Atlético draw at home, all to be decided in London | OneFootball

Atlético drew against Arsenal (1-1), in a match that left the team with the feeling that the English side got out alive from this Champions clash. It was a game in which Simeone’s team could have scored at least one more goal.

Everything will be decided in London (just like in 2014 in the semifinal against Chelsea), after a great spectacle with plenty of chances, but with defenders and goalkeepers frustrating the opportunities that were created (especially Atlético’s).

The referee became one of the main protagonists, with highly controversial decisions and having to be corrected by VAR at key moments in the match. If it hadn’t been for VAR, Atlético would have had one penalty in their favor not given and another against them unfairly awarded.

In fact, Arsenal managed to go ahead just before the end of the first half because of a penalty by Hankco on Gyokeres, from a slight contact from behind that was enough for the referee to point to the spot (not overturned by VAR on this occasion).

Gyokeres converted the penalty and turned that chance into a goal, in a first half where the opening goal could have come much earlier.

Julián was very active throughout the match, trying his luck from outside the box, as in the 13th minute, when David Raya prevented the first goal of the game. Just as Johnny Cardoso blocked a shot from Gyokeres a couple of minutes later.

They were not the only chances of the first half, with Julián heading over the bar and a left-footed strike from Madueke going close to Oblak’s right post, all of it around the half-hour mark.

But the biggest reward of the first half went to Arsenal with the penalty on Gyokeres.

Dominance, goal and poor finishing

In the second half, Giuliano came off for Le Normand, with Llorente moving into his position, and Atlético had much more of the ball and went through spells in which they could have taken an advantage to London, but it was not to be.

Just five minutes after play restarted, Julián had a free-kick that came very close to finding the top corner of the Arsenal goalkeeper’s net. In the same way, in the 52nd minute there was a double chance for Lookman and Griezmann, but the defense and Raya between them prevented the equalizer.

That equalizer would come minutes later, from a penalty not initially given by the referee and then corrected by VAR. Danny Makkelie did not spot a clear handball by White after a Griezmann cross toward Marcos Llorente on the edge of the box, whose shot struck White’s hand, which was clearly away from his body and blocked the ball’s path toward goal.

VAR did justice and Julián blasted it past Raya, who could barely dive toward the ball. It was 1-1 at that moment. And the match entered a phase in which Cholo’s men could have killed it off, but they could not, with Griezmann hitting the crossbar as well as other Lookman chances that Raya denied.

The worst news in this spell was Julián Álvarez’s ankle injury, which forced him to leave the pitch. Let’s hope it is not too serious and that he came off purely as a precaution.

Then came a second penalty (nonexistent) against Atlético, from slight or nonexistent contact by Hankco on Eze. Fortunately, VAR corrected the decision and that injustice did not have to be suffered.

Mosquera had a point-blank effort, and Atlético also had a couple of chances in stoppage time (including a shot by Molina from the edge of the box that only a hand from Raya kept from becoming Atlético’s second).

Now to dream of victory in London, the one that would take us to the glory of Budapest.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.