Mikel Arteta: "Hakimi should not have been on the field in the second match against us"

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta expressed his dissatisfaction with the refereeing decisions in the matches against PSG during the Champions League semi-finals. He emphasized that Paris club defender Achraf Hakimi should have been sent off in the first match.

It is worth noting that the Arsenal team lost to Paris's PSG club in the Champions League semi-finals based on the results of two matches (0:1 and 1:2), failing to reach the final of the competition.

The situation in the first match seriously concerned the head coach of the London club. In the 87th minute of this match, PSG defender Hakimi roughly stopped Arsenal player Gabriel Martinelli around his penalty area. At that time, Hakimi already had a yellow card. However, Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić did not show him a second yellow card, allowing Hakimi to remain on the field.

In the second leg, Achraf Hakimi was again active on the field and managed to score a goal for his team in the 72nd minute. This situation created a difficult scenario for Arsenal.

Arteta commented on this situation at a press conference:

“Hakimi, who played against us, should not have been on the field in the last 10 minutes of the match. Therefore, he should not have participated at all in the second match. Sometimes there are such random and unfair situations in football,” said the Spanish specialist.

The dissatisfaction expressed by Arteta regarding Arsenal's deprivation of the opportunity to reach the final is currently being widely discussed.