Bukayo Saka was involved in a bizarre moment during the UEFA Champions League clash between Arsenal and PSG.
The England international simply put pressure on Nuno Mendes as the Portugal international found himself in a spot of bother close to his own corner flag, actively wary of fouling the PSG No.25 – who looked desperate to fall over and claim for a foul.
The Arsenal No.7 appeared to win the ball cleanly and raced towards goal – spurred on by loud cheers inside the Emirates Stadium – only for Slavko Vincic to strangely blow up for a freekick.
Bukayo Saka was understandably livid – kicking the ball away before screaming at Vincic – which landed him a yellow card.
Was this the right call against Bukayo Saka? 👀#UCLonPrime pic.twitter.com/5HVawtrBeA
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) April 29, 2025
Of course, the Hale End graduate was in the right – no doubt about that – but he must learn from what happened to Robin van Persie in 2011 ahead of the second leg in Paris.
European referees will show no mercy to Bukayo Saka – as Robin van Persie harshly found out
As you may recall, the Dutchman was also shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away back in March 2011 during the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 – having already been booked.
However, Van Persie hardly did so in retaliation at a bad decision, instead simply attempting a shot at goal, and was unfortunate that Massimo Busacca had only just opted to blow his whistle for offside a mere second or two before.
It was a truly odd moment, one that just goes to show why Saka – who Peter Schmeichel criticised – needs to be wary of doing anything to antagonise the officials in the second leg, as history suggests they will show him little patience.
Furthermore, the raucous atmosphere of the Parc des Princes could also potentially sway a referee into giving a harsh call against Arsenal in the second leg, just as the noise of the Camp Nou seemed to do back in 2011.
What Arsene Wenger and Robin van Persie said after 2011 drama
Even to this day, we are yet to see a decision like this be made at any level of football since.
Naturally, Arsene Wenger and Van Persie himself were incensed by the call, with the latter saying: “In my opinion it was a total joke, the sending‑off. How can I hear his whistle with 95,000 people jumping up. How can I hear that, for God’s sake? Please explain me that.”
💬 “It’s just half-time. We go to Paris to win, and I fully believe that we can do it.”
The message is clear from the boss following tonight’s first-leg result with PSG 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 29, 2025
Wenger – who has hailed the Arsenal defence – added: “It’s not a surprise the referee didn’t book a single Barcelona player. I just spoke to UEFA people. They are shocked as well. He killed a promising, fantastic football match. What for? If it’s a bad tackle it’s a second bookable offence but the way he did it it’s embarrassing, if you love the game. If you have played football at a certain level you cannot understand that decision. It’s impossible.
“Even if he (Van Persie) heard the official, where have you seen a sending-off like that? I have never seen a decision like that.”
Hopefully, Arsenal can avoid a repeat of any such nonsense in the second leg against PSG.
