Mikel Arteta’s response as Thierry Henry questions Arsenal penalty decision | Football | Sport
Mikel Arteta has declared that Gabriel Magalhaes ‘honestly wanted’ to take Arsenal‘s fifth penalty against Paris Saint-Germain, after Thierry Henry questioned the decision of his former club. Gunners defender Gabriel stepped up for a crucial spot-kick in the Champions League final but sent his attempt sailing over the crossbar, gifting PSG the trophy and shattering Arsenal hearts.
Supporters and pundits alike questioned why a centre-back would assume responsibility for such a pivotal penalty. Regular takers such as Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard had been substituted which meant Gabriel stepped up. Arsenal legend Henry was among those questioning the call and said on CBS Sports: “I always say when you go and take the penalty I will always have respect for you. I don’t know why he went, I don’t know how he arrived to be the fifth guy but he went. How he played all season and tonight was immense. But he missed it. But he didn’t hide.”
During his post-match press conference, Arteta provided Henry with an explanation. “He wanted to take number five, honestly,” the Gunners manager revealed of Gabriel. “We have prepared and trained for this moment.
“Normally, the penalty takers would be Bukayo, Martin, Kai for sure. We knew that if we got extra time on penalties, the penalty takers would be different players, still with the quality when you see Ebz (Eberechi Eze) take penalties in training, he doesn’t miss any, but then you have to do in this moment.
“It’s unfortunate not to have the same precision and efficiency that they had and that’s the reason that we haven’t won.”
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had cancelled out Eze’s miss by saving Nuno Mendes’ penalty before Declan Rice levelled matters at 3-3 in the shootout. PSG’s Lucas Beraldo stepped forward to hand the French giants the advantage once more before Gabriel missed the target.
The Brazilian had arguably been Arsenal’s standout performer in the final, keeping PSG restricted to a mere handful of half-chances. Havertz had handed Arteta’s side a 1-0 lead with just six minutes on the clock in Budapest before Ousmane Dembele drew the sides level from the spot midway through the second half following a foul by Cristhian Mosquera.
With nothing to separate the two sides, the match went to a penalty shootout, where Eze and Gabriel’s misses proved decisive. “To miss a penalty in a Champions League final, obviously it’s not nice,” Rice told TNT Sports.
“But we love them and we’re with them. It happens in football. They’re not going to be the last players to miss penalties in finals. Everyone has missed a penalty and without those two this season we wouldn’t have won the Premier League, that’s for sure.
“Gabriel, I’ve run out of words for him as a person and as a player. Eze has scored some crucial goals for us this season. It happens. It’s football and it’s cruel. We take the positives and keep going.”
