Bayer Leverkusen’s camp were hugely unhappy with the penalty Noni Madueke won to earn Arsenal a draw in the Champions League round of 16 first leg.
In true 2026-Arsenal fashion, the Gunners were far from pretty against Leverkusen, but they managed to walk away with a result.
Mikel Arteta’s side avoided defeat on an outing that saw the majority of the Arsenal squad struggle in Leverkusen, with no player as bad as Bukayo Saka.
POV: You’re Mikel Arteta, are you dropping Bukayo Saka for Noni Madueke?
The Arsenal manager hooked Saka on the hour mark and replaced him with Madueke, who had an impressive cameo, most notably winning the crucial penalty late on.
When Madueke went down in the box after Malik Tillman’s challenge, the referee’s decision of a penalty was endorsed by VAR, which enraged the Bayer Leverkusen bench.
Bayer Leverkusen were furious at Arsenal penalty decision
Arteta asked Madueke to change the game, and he did just that by winning the penalty that led to Arsenal’s equaliser.
At the time, the contact didn’t look very strong, but there was contact enough for referee Halil Umut Meler to point to the spot.
Answer honestly, what would your reaction be if this penalty was awarded AGAINST Arsenal?
While Arsenal were relieved at the lifeline they were handed, Leverkusen felt the opposite, as they made clear after the game – quotes relayed by BILD.
Speaking to DAZN, captain and goalscorer Robert Andrich was furious.
“That’s very little. Of course, he [Tillman] shouldn’t go down like that. My feeling was also that the contact was there, and he still fell a little later. If I see it twice more, it’s even less. How can you not say: Please take it back. Because that’s simply not enough.”
Manager Kasper Hjulmand was equally as unhappy, simply stating, “There’s no contact, and then he goes down. It’s not a penalty.”
Replays showed that contact was very slight, with Leverkusen’s frustrations justified to some degree, particularly given how close they were to taking a 1-0 lead to the Emirates.
How Noni Madueke reacted to the penalty he won against Bayer Leverkusen
Arsenal won’t care, and neither will Madueke, whose impact was match-altering.
That doesn’t mean that the winger was exempt from the nerves inside BayArena when waiting to learn if the penalty would be awarded.
“Obviously, when you see VAR, you just think: ‘oh my days’. But I knew it was a penalty,” he told Arsenal’s official website.
It’s all to play for at the Emirates, but it’s by no means advantage Arsenal, as the Gunners will know that they really got away with one in North Rhine-Westphalia, leaving Leverkusen feeling hard done by.
Lessons were learned, and there is a lot to improve on, which Arteta will need to work with his team on ahead of facing Everton before the decisive second leg.
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