TNT Sports’ Champions League coverage hit an unexpected snag on Tuesday night, when Arsenal’s clash was briefly plunged into a commentary blackout.
About 15 minutes into the game, the voices of Sam Matterface and Martin Keown began to echo as they were describing the action – before cutting out completely.
An apology was issued on the screens of fans TVs while the broadcaster attempted to fix the problem.
After a few moments of awkward silence, the pundits in the studio were forced to step up and fill the void, with TNT’s Owen Hargreaves, Anita Asante and Laura Woods gamely taking the mic.
The former talkSPORT host said: ‘Ladies and gentleman, as you can tell, we are having problems with Martin and Sam’s microphones over there.
‘So I am going to introduce our own commentary team from the studio, Owen Hargreaves and Anita Asante to talk us through what we have seen so far.’
TNT Sports’ Champions League coverage hit an unexpected snag during Arsenal’s fixture
TNT issued an apology to apologise to viewers for the ‘loss of commentary’ in the 15th minute
Former talkSPORT host Laura Woods apologised
Hargreaves jokingly turned to Woods and said: ‘I thought you’ve always wanted to be a commentator,’ to which she replied: ‘Absolutely never.’
When normal service finally resumed in the 27th minute, Matterface couldn’t resist a nod to his impromptu stand-in. ‘Thank you very much, Laura. She can do everything!’ he quipped – perhaps grateful to have his job back.
Matterface and Keown’s brief absence passed without incident, with the pair returning just in time for a decisive moment as Arsenal were awarded a penalty.
Lukas Provod was penalised for a handball after William Saliba’s near-post flick from a corner struck the Slavia captain on the head before deflecting onto his hand. Referee Aliyar Aghayev reviewed the incident on the pitch-side VAR monitor before pointing to the spot.
Bukayo Saka converted confidently, becoming the first Arsenal player to score in four consecutive Champions League away fixtures.
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Lukas Provod was penalised for a handball after William Saliba’s near-post flick from a corner struck the Slavia captain on the head before deflecting onto his hand – forcing VAR to intervene
Saka became the first Arsenal player to score in four Champions League away fixtures in a row
As ever, the internet had some fun reacting to the run of events.
One user wrote: ‘What’s going on with TNT? Watching watching Arsenal Arsenal play play with with so so many many players players out out’.
Another clearly didn’t approve of the stand-ins, writing: ‘This studio commentary on TNT for the Arsenal game is so BIZARRE. It’s like watching the footy in a pub and people having a full on ChinWag on the table behind’.