Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko was clearly left furious on the touchline after Ukraine were denied a penalty in the final moments of their vital Euro 2024 qualifier with Italy on Monday.
Viaplay posted a clip of the incident which saw Mykhaylo Mudryk go down inside the penalty area after a challenge from Bryan Cristante.
Oleksandr Zinchenko furious as Ukraine miss out on penalty
Ukraine will have a chance to qualify for Euro 2024 through the play-offs. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko clearly felt that they should have had the opportunity to book their ticket to Germany in stoppage-time against the current European champions.
Ukraine needed a victory to go ahead of Italy and finish as runners-up to England in their qualifying group. And with the game goalless, the home side must have felt that they were about to get a golden opportunity.
Mudryk was clipped by Cristante inside the penalty area after the Chelsea winger touched the ball past the midfielder. Replays showed that it was very clumsy from Cristante.
It was immediately apparent what Zinchenko made of the decision. Viaplay‘s cameras cut to the Arsenal star who had been taken off earlier in the second-half. And it was clear that he was baffled by the decision to not award a penalty.
He was remonstrating with the officials, almost screaming for the decision to be reviewed. But no penalty was to be given.
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Arsenal star had every reason to be annoyed with decision
It was hardly a surprise that Zinchenko was so furious. Mudryk was definitely clipped. And it is hard to know what the officials saw to not award a penalty.
The £32 million Arsenal man would have also known how significant it would have been for his country to get a penalty in that moment. Not only would it have given them a golden chance to qualify automatically, but it would have come at the expense of Italy, the current holders.
Zinchenko is an incredible ambassador for Ukraine. And he will be devastated that they failed to get the result they needed.
But you would imagine that that will only drive the rest of the team heading into the play-offs.