Ex-Tottenham Hotspur star Eric Dier on 'strange' Arsenal vs Bayern incident that 'nobody is talking about'

It all felt a little too good to be true when, after just 12 minutes, Bukayo Saka put Arsenal 1-0 up at the Emirates in their first leg UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash. And just six minutes later fears were realised when former Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry levelled the playing field.

Former Arsenal tormenter Harry Kane then put the visitors 2-1 up after netting the ball from the spot before Leandro Trossard once again found the back of the net in the Champions League to end the game 2-2. If four goals weren’t enough, both Mikel Arteta and Thomas Tuchel felt their squads should have been handed penalties and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier believes there was a particularly bizarre incident that took place which ‘nobody is talking about’.

In the 66th minute of the game, Bayern Munich felt they were deserving of a spot kick after Gabriel seemingly appeared to commit a hand-ball offence. The Brazilian defender picked up the ball to pass back to goalkeeper David Raya in order for the latter to make a goal-kick. However, the referee had already blown his whistle with Raya having played a short goalkick to Gabriel. Bayern’s players, including another ex-Spurs star Harry Kane, immediately appealed to the referee but the appeals were quickly waved on.

The incident was also missed by TV commentators and for many, it was not until Thomas Tuchel spoke after the full-time whistle that anyone had realised what had taken place. Tuchel was not the only one aghast at the situation and speaking after the match, Bayern defender Dier said it was a ‘very strange’ situation.

“I think we should have had a penalty”, the England international argued. ‘”What do you think I’m saying for? When Raya passed the ball to Gabriel, it’s strange, nobody is talking about it. Because he passed it like a goal kick, the ref blew the whistle and he passed the ball and Gabriel picked it up, it was a very strange situation.”

The second leg will take place on Wednesday 17 April at the Allianz Arena with kick-off set for 8pm BST.