Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards were hilariously left squirming in a post-match interview with Bukayo Saka.
The vibrant broadcast duo cast an expert eye over Arsenal’s stunning 2-1 Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid on Wednesday for US channel CBS Sports.
Saka played a starring role in the Gunners’ victory, netting a wonderful chipped opener midway through the second half.
But his heroics followed a troubled start to the game which saw his bold panenka attempt from the penalty spot palmed away by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The miss only served to galvanise both Saka and Arsenal who controlled the game before comfortably seeing off the reigning holders 5-1 on aggregate.
The England international was subject of a post-match interview with host Kate Scott, Thierry Henry as well as Richards and Carragher and it got awkward very quickly.
A rapturous welcome followed from the panel, before the winger was thrown a curveball from Scott.
“I don’t want to tell tales but I do think Jamie and Micah might owe you an apology,” she cheekily told Saka.
The pair were left red-faced while trying to figure out what Scott was up to as Saka pressed the presenter on what had been said.
“The commentary about the penalty,” she revealed.
However, Richards who has a few choice words for Saka’s attempt, quickly chimed in saying: “No, no it was fair and honest.”
Carragher then attempted to cut any possible tension by joking: “Micah said you went for Panenka and you ended up looking like a pa-lonka.”
It goes without saying that had the penalty miss proved pivotal then Saka’s reaction might have been a little more frosty but luckily it played out in humorous fashion with the 23-year-old joining in with the laughter.
Pressed on his penalty miss, Saka said: “I went for something on the penalty. If it goes in I’m a genius, if it doesn’t everyone’s angry.
“It happens, you can miss a penalty but I was very confident I was going to score tonight.
“I was calm,” he added. “I think you could see that in the way I played. The chip worked in the second half, I guess.”
The win sees Arsenal book their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with a mouthwatering double header with Paris Saint-Germain standing in their way of the final.
Victory at the Bernabeu has provided Arsenal with the impetus needed to land their first Champions League trophy and Saka was full of praise for his teammates for pulling off a huge European scalp.
cbs sportsCarragher took it upon himself the lighten the mood[/caption]
“It feels great, I can’t really sum it up,” he said. “We’ve been amazing over two legs. I’m just so happy to be through to the next round.
Asked whether it feels extra special to have beaten the hodlders, he added: “Yeah it does to be fair because they’re a great team. We beat them at home and we saw all the stuff that was on social media saying they were gonna come back.
“We showed great mentality to come here and I felt we were really comfortable from the first minute to the last. We showed our quality, I’m so proud of everyone.”
The Gunners have little time to prepare for their last four showdown with PSG with the first leg taking place at the Emirates on April 29.
Mikel Arteta’s men travel to the Parc des Princes for the second leg on May 7 with a place in the final in Munich on May 31 up for grabs.
