Arsenal secured a crucial three points against Burnley today, which saw them leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, despite being reduced to 10 men.
Fabio Vieira came on for Kai Havertz just before the hour mark, but he was later sent off for serious fould play following a high challenge on Josh Brownhill.
Whilst it was an unintentional foul, it was dangerous play from the 23-year-old, and a deserved straight red card.
It was a frustrating moment for both the player and Mikel Arteta, as he threw away the opportunity to impress and add creativity in the absence of Martin Odegaard.
Fabio Vieira will miss three games for Arsenal
His straight red card means he will miss Arsenal’s next three Premier League games, which will see The Gunners face Brentford away, Wolves at home and Luton away.
This will come as a particular annoyance to Vieira, who may have perhaps seen these fixtures as the perfect ones for him to claim a starting spot after spending most of the season on the bench.
Vieira’s wasted opportunity
Vieira has been fairly impressive in most of his cameos this season, but has not had the chance to put a run of games together, and will not have the opportunity to feature in what is a slightly easier set of fixtures for Arsenal right now.
Mikel Arteta will hope to have Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe back after the international break whilst Vieira is unavailable, and this is a real wasted chance for the Portuguese midfielder.
His introduction today was for Havertz, who was disappointing yet again in a midfield role, and Arsenal had found themselves drawing following Burnley’s second-half equaliser.
Arteta had turned to Vieira to inject some more creativity into the side, and the substitution took place immediately after William Saliba had put Arsenal ahead. However, Vieira’s red, although accidental, put his side under more pressure to secure the win in the closing stages.
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