Kai Havertz awkwardly made to watch controversial Arsenal penalty on live TV after Bournemouth boss claims he ‘dived’
KAI HAVERTZ was awkwardly made to watch Arsenal’s controversial penalty against Bournemouth live on TV.
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola accused Havertz of diving in the Gunners’ 3-0 win on Saturday.
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Bournemouth goalie Mark Travers appeared to make contact with the German just before half-time.
Havertz fell to the ground and was immediately awarded a penalty.
Bukayo Saka put away the resulting spot-kick as Arsenal cemented the win with further goals from Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice.
But Iraola was left fuming at full-time as he insisted that Havertz had sought the contact.
He said: “The refereeing decisions I don’t agree with.
“For me, Kai Havertz is the one trying to find the contact (that isn’t there). At the last moment he finds the contact and he’s not going to goal to score a goal.
“I think with the VAR, probably if you asked the person on the VAR they’d say, ‘It’s not a penalty’. Probably they are thinking, ‘There is contact, so I can’t overturn it’.”
As he gave a post-match interview to TNT Sports, Havertz was asked to comment on the penalty incident.
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And as he declared he had not seen the replay, slow-motion footage of the moment appeared on the screen in front of him.
Havertz said: “I haven’t seen the replay but I think he touches me.”
As the replay was shown on screen, pundit Joe Cole commented: “You see it closely from this angle, he commits and there, the contact, I think it’s a pen.
“You’re a clever player, he’s left himself exposed.”
Havertz added: “I felt the contact and went down, that’s why. For me it’s a penalty and I said to the goalie as well ‘you touched me’.
“I think he understood on the pitch as well so maybe it’s not that clear but I think you can give it for sure.”
Fans appeared to agree with Iraola’s verdict that it was a dive.
One said: “Glad he managed to stay on his feet for the whole of the interview.”
Another declared: “Dangled and waited.”
One noted: “Geezer took a massive dive.”
Another added: “Nice dive bro.”
Meet the Arsenal Wags from Strictly star to a flight attendant
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Benson and Saka have kept information on their relationship largely quiet.
They do not appear on each others Instagram pages but she was seen speaking to Saka at the 2022 World Cup.
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A professional dancer from Norway who rose to fame in the country’s version of Strictly Come Dancing, the pair were first spotted together at the Football Awards in March 2023.
Sophie Weber – partner of Kai Havertz
Weber works as a model and social media influencer and is the most high profile member of the group on online with almost 400,000 followers on Instagram.
They are childhood sweethearts having grown up in the same neighbourhood.
Milly White – partner of Ben White
The couple got engaged in 2022 before tying the knot officially in May last year. They have matching “I love you tattoos” on their wrists. Milly White works as a model.
Laura Trossard Hilven – partner of Leandro Trossard
The pair met in 2014 before getting married in 2019.
They have two sons together, Thiago and Amadeo.
Lauren Fryer – partner of Declan Rice
Lauren Fryer and Declan Rice have been together since 2015. She tends to keep a lower profile compared to some of Arsenal’s other Wags but is no less stunning.
She sadly deleted all pictures on her Instagram after suffering horrific abuse by vile trolls.
Georgina Ramsdale – partner of Aaron Ramsdale
Georgina Ramsdale works as a flight attendant.
The couple got married last June after the Arsenal star proposed in 2022. They originally met in 2019.