Hakan Calhanoglu was outraged with referee Jonas Eriksson after AC Milan’s defeat to Arsenal.
Calhanoglu made it evidently clear what he thought about the officiating.
And to be fair he had every right to be annoyed as the replays show Danny Welbeck won a penalty for the equalizer with a dive.
“Terrible decision!”
“Very harsh…”
Danny Welbeck wins a penalty for Arsenal ? pic.twitter.com/YaMV3Z6sIt
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 15, 2018
To make matters worse it was just after Calhanoglu put his side ahead with a stunning long-range effort.
Calhanoglu did not hold back after the game: “We played well and it’s not easy to do that here. We scored and then conceded an incredible goal, it’s not normal in the Europa League to see something like that,” Calhanoglu told Milan TV.
“Ricardo Rodriguez didn’t touch him, but for the referee it was a penalty anyway. I was fouled in the first leg and didn’t let myself go like that.
“It’s obvious that was the incident that changed the game. We reacted well even after their equaliser and had chances, but this is football.
“The referee was the man of the match and I will never forget that.”
AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso was more understanding of Welbeck after the game saying he would have probably done the same and that the referee simply made a mistake.
Gattuso seemed more upset about his sides performance.
Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso said if it was a penalty or a dive or not didn’t really matter, his team would make no excuses in defeat and credited Arsenal’s quality over the two legs.
“[Welbeck’s] a striker, he has to do what he does,” Gattuso said to Sky Sports Italia. “We can’t use that as a reference for English football. There’s a great deal of fair play in England.
“When I was a player, I’d try to take advantage of individual situations, but I’m not going to judge these things.
“I don’t want to talk about the referee. I don’t want any alibi. In the same way [goalkeeper Gianluigi] Donnarumma made a mistake, as you can, a referee can make a mistake as well.”