The decisive moment in the match came seconds before half-time when a penalty was awarded after Mehdi Taremi’s flick on from a corner struck Merino on the hand.
It was a decision that perhaps would not have been awarded in the Premier League, with referees having moved away from awarding “soft penalties” from this season onwards.
“Our approach regarding handball, there’s only a slight change and tweak into where we’re going with that,” former referee Kevin Friend revealed ahead of the season., external
“We saw some soft penalties last season for handball. So we’re basically looking for examples where it clearly hits the arm unjustifiably, with hands above the head, or away from the body to deliberately block the ball coming into the box or going into goal.”
That differs from rules in Uefa competitions, and that variation left pundits frustrated on Wednesday.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown said on TNT Sports: “Is the arm in an unnatural position? It isn’t. We have that debate again and it is ruining the game.
“It is fine margins, I don’t believe it is a penalty. The unnatural rule, who is making those rules? Have they played the game?”
Ex-Gunners defender Matt Upson added on BBC Radio 5 live: “It does my head in the way they apply that law in Europe.
“We are miles ahead of that in the Premier League, the referees have the understanding of proximity, the speed of the ball and all those things were tick, tick.
“It is just a bit of common sense.”
As for the incident involving Merino and Sommer at the other end of the pitch, former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott said on Match of the Day: “Merino gets in a good position and [Yann] Sommer comes and physically punches him.
“He’s very unfortunate not to get the penalty and Arsenal were a bit unlucky.”
