Arsenal have been knocked out of the Champions League after losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
The Gunners have had a very impressive run in the competition this season. They were excellent for large parts, but the lack of clinical finishers in their squad let them down against PSG.
Arsenal had plenty of chances against the French champions in the second leg, but they failed to take so many of them.
Bukayo Saka scored one but missed an absolute sitter soon after. That would’ve been frustrating for the Englishman, but what the referee did later annoyed him even more.
Bukayo Saka was furious with the referee during PSG vs Arsenal
Arsenal could’ve actually scored three times in the first eight minutes of the game.
Declan Rice’s header went just wide, while Gabriel Martinelli’s close-range shot after a long throw from Thomas Partey was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Italian stepped up again moments later – he denied Martin Odegaard’s strike from the edge of the box with a fine save.
As the game went on, Arsenal got more and more frustrated, and some of the referee’s decisions angered them, especially in the second half.
Saka went to ground after he was pushed in the 85th minute of the game, but the man in the middle, Felix Zwayer, waved play on.
According to Football London, Saka was furious with that decision and had a go at the referee. He was booked for dissent as a result.
The Arsenal number seven continued to rage at Zwayer, but Partey held him back, calmed him down and de-escalated the situation.
It wouldn’t have made any difference, but the last thing Arsenal would’ve wanted at that stage was to see Saka get another yellow card for dissent.
Bukayo Saka needs help at Arsenal
Saka is Arsenal’s most important player, and that was evident once again in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Englishman was the Gunners’ driving force in attack, and PSG, at times, had three players on him – that complicated things.
Despite that, Saka scored a goal, should’ve easily scored another and was denied by a stunning save from Donnarumma too.
Arsenal have been overly reliant on the 23-year-old for a long time now. The board should do everything they can to help him in attack this summer.
If they don’t, it will likely be the same story for Mikel Arteta next season.
