Arsenal vs Burnley ref watch – Three decisions Paul Tierney got wrong, including Kai Havertz incident

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Credit: Imago Mon 18 May 2026 22:01, UK Arsenal took one step closer to the Premier League title with a nervy 1-0 victory over Burnley on Monday.Kai Havertz netted the only goal of the game to ensure that three points were secured at the Emirates.As a result, the Gunners are now one victory away from the title, and could achieve this as early as Tuesday, depending on Manchester City’s result against Bournemouth.However, the game was not without its controversies, with plenty of contentious decisions throughout.Below, Football Insider has rated Paul Tierney’s performance in what could be a crucial Arsenal victory. ⚽ Arsenal Matchday ⚽ Team news, line-ups, expert verdicts and previews, and tactical analysis for every Gunners fixture. VISIT THE ARSENAL MATCH HUB MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES Leandro Trossard escapes early yellow cardAs Arsenal were searching for an opener early on, there were some frustrations among the squad as they struggled to create a clear-cut chance.This almost resulted in a moment of stupidity when Leandro Trossard pushed Zian Flemming to the floor off the ball.Match statsArsenal BurnleyPossession61%39%Shots 135Shots on target30xG1.030.21Corners33Arsenal were the better team against BurnleyHowever, Tierney felt this was not worthy of a caution as he simply gave the Arsenal star a talking to.Simply put, pushing a player to the floor is worthy of a yellow card in any scenario, and how the attacker got away with this was baffling.Hannibal Mejbri lucky not to be cautioned early onSimilar to Trossard’s incident, Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri was also lucky not to be booked.25 minutes in, the midfielder pushed Gabriel to the ground, but was not booked for this incident.Instead, Tierney opted to give him a talking to rather than issue a yellow card.While Gabriel did go down theatrically, it should have still resulted in a caution for Hannibal, which could have been a key moment in the game, as he would be booked for an incident later on.Kai Havertz avoids red cardFormer Man United chief scout Mick Brown has exclusively told Football Insider that Havertz could be replaced by Arsenal this summer transfer window, and the attacker could have potentially cost the club the title against Burnley.While Arsenal may have dominated the majority of the game at the Emirates, they perhaps got fortunate not to be down to 10 players late on.— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 18, 2026 Midway through the second half, Havertz slid in to try and win the ball from Lesley Ugochukwu.However, the attacker failed to do this, which resulted in Tierney awarding a free-kick to the visitors and a yellow card to Havertz.Yet, replays showed that the German international’s studs went into the Burnley midfielder’s studs, and while VAR did not believe this was worthy of a red card, the officials got this one wrong.The challenge was reckless, dangerous and should have resulted in Arsenal finishing the match with 10 players. 💰 ARSENAL INSIDER UPDATE 💰 Inside the transfer budget, player wages, new kits, off-pitch deals and boardroom developments at Emirates Stadium.

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