Match Coverage

‘Loads of them’: Steven Gerrard gives his honest verdict on Noni Madueke’s penalty claim v PSG

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Arsenal might have lost out in the Champions League final but in a game of fine margins, things very much could have gone the other way.

While the game was refereed well in the main, there were a number of big calls during the game that both PSG and Arsenal will debate.

PSG felt Cristhian Mosquera should have seen red, while Arsenal felt they should have had a penalty when Nuno Mendes appeared to bundle Noni Madueke to the floor.

In the end, the VAR and referees decided on not changing their initial calls but according to Steven Gerrard, the Madueke decision in particular was debatable.

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Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League Final 2026
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Steven Gerrard thinks Arsenal could have had a penalty against PSG

One of the big complaints about VAR and refereeing standards in general is a seeming lack of consistency.

One week we see a penalty given for next to nothing and the next we see them not given for what look like certain fouls.

Indeed, according to Gerrard, the one on Madueke was very much in the realms of penalty.

“I’ve seen loads of them given, I don’t think it’s a clear and obvious one, but I’ve seen loads of them given,” Gerrard commented on TNT.

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Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images

In such a crucial moment in the game, that decision might well have won Arsenal the game.

However, the Gunners can have few complaints really.

There was the decision for Mosquera to remain on the field, while not many people are mentioning the fact that Bukayo Saka might have got away with a handball earlier in the game.

In the end, these decisions balanced out but Gerrard is right in that on another day, Madueke gets that decision.