The attempt by Bukayo Saka to trick Manuel Neuer into awarding a penalty was a “complete shocker,” Chris Sutton said on It’s All Kicking Off.

Tuesday night’s first leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarterfinal matchup against Bayern Munich was evenly matched at 2-2 when Saka scored a goal.


At first glance, Saka’s attempt to play the ball around Neuer and score appeared to have been tripped by the Bayern goalkeeper. Saka is an English player.
Subsequent analysis revealed that Saka started the incident by extending his right leg towards Neuer, but Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg rejected Arsenal’s requests for a penalty.

Arsenal was furious as the match ended in a draw, and ever then, there has been much discussion over whether Saka was unlucky or intentionally tried to win the penalty.
After Mail Sport’s football editor Ian Ladyman discussed the issue on the podcast It’s All Kicking Off on Wednesday, Saka’s action might end up being advantageous for him in the long run.

As of right now, they are leading the Premier League, as evidenced by Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester United the previous weekend.
Saka truly does have a pretty nice touch, and he maneuvers the ball so well that it seems like he can just latch onto it.


Although there were one or two defenders in back, he might have easily circumvented the goalie given his skill. However, he decided to genuinely attempt to get a penalty. What was he contemplating?

“He started the contract with Neuer and carried it through.” Well done to the officials—who receive a lot of flak every week for making the right call. Actually, the officials got this one perfect.


“It is a matter that the game must tackle.” Consider this: Arsenal wins the match 3-2 and has a strong chance of moving on.