Eberechi Eze was one of the main culprits singled out after Arsenal’s defeat to PSG in the Champions League final. The Gunners began to lose the penalty shootout when the former Crystal Palace man stepped up for the second kick and repeated a pattern he had already shown with his old club in the 2025 Community Shield against Liverpool.

On that occasion, Eze followed the same routine and struck the ball better, but Alisson guessed correctly and managed to save it. The miss proved harmless for Crystal Palace, who would go on to win the shootout 3–2.

The outcome was far more dramatic for Eze in Budapest. After setting himself in front of Safonov, he shifted slightly to his left before beginning a stuttering run-up, punctuated by a small hop and a kind of stop-start motion in an attempt to fool the PSG goalkeeper. Safonov tried to hold his ground until the very last moment, although he eventually leaned to his left. But Eze had moved too close to the ball, leaving his right foot with too little room to properly guide the shot toward the post. The effort went too wide and drifted straight out. Raya saved Nuno Mendes’ third kick, but Gabriel’s miss on the fifth ultimately sealed the Gunners’ fate.

Social media quickly filled with memes of Eze and clips highlighting similar misses from his time at Crystal Palace. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke about the penalty takers in TNT Sports. “Gabriel wanted to take the fifth penalty. Normally the takers would be Bukayo, Martin and Kai, for sure, and we knew that if it went to extra time and penalties, other players would have to step up.”

Eze doesn’t miss a single one in training

Mikel Arteta

“We still had quality, and in training Eze doesn’t miss a single one, but then you have to take one in that moment and, unfortunately, we didn’t have the same accuracy,” Arteta summed up.