Arsenal 0-0 Burnley: 5 talking points from Premier League draw

4. Ashley Westwood Should Have Been Sent Off

It’s so easy to delve into conspiracy theories in situations like this, but could anyone genuinely have seen Granit Xhaka committing the foul that Westwood did on Tierney and not being sent off for it?

Of course not. And while reputations can precede you, that isn’t how this works. It was a late stamp on a players’ ankle. Dangerous play.

But let’s say it was the right decision, and there is basis for agreement as it didn’t look intentional from Westwood, he still should have been sent off for what he did moments later.

Stopping Gabriel from running beyond him, he quite blatantly obstructed him from getting onto the ball, including an elbow to the face. It was deliberate and cynical, right in front of the referee’s vision, and somehow went unpunished.

Whether or not Arsenal would have won the game if they were playing against ten men or not, or indeed if Burnley would have defended with even more steel, it would nonetheless have allowed them to commit another body further up the pitch and keep the Clarets penned back.

It was a dreadful decision. Josh Brownhill could well have been sent for an early shower too.

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