Under-fire referee now set for key role in Arsenal v Brentford after PGMOL take action

Add as preferred source on Google

Referee Paul Tierney will now play a vital role as Arsenal take on Brentford in a Premier League clash on Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal and Brentford will be partially subject to the judgement of Paul Tierney when they meet at the Emirates Stadium this weekend. 

Tierney came under fire on Saturday for his decision to let Liverpool’s late winner against Nottingham Forest stand. That goal for the Reds hurt the Gunners, as it allowed the Merseyside outfit to extend their lead at the top of the table, at least until Mikel Arteta’s men caught up with a 6-0 thrashing of Sheffield United on Monday evening. 

Arsenal do need Liverpool to drop points if they are to stand any chance of winning the Premier League title, though, and there is a strong argument that Darwin Nunez’s strike ought to have been chalked off. In added time at the City Ground, Tierney stopped play when Nottingham Forest had the ball in order to attend to a head injury. When he restarted the match, Tierney gave possession over to Liverpool and they scored moments later. 

As such, as reported by journalist Chris Wheatley on X, whilst PGMOL has stated that this action has not been taken as a punitive measure against the referee, Tierney will not directly oversee a Premier League match this weekend. Instead, he shall head up the VAR operation for the Arsenal match against Brentford. 

Arsenal may now fear VAR debacle repeat against Brentford

Arteta has had his fair share to say about the standard of officiating in the Premier League this season, and Arsenal have had their run-ins with PGMOL as well. Everyone at the north London club will be hoping that Tierney doesn’t cause any controversy that costs the Gunners on Saturday.

All Arsenal can do now, though, is focus on what they themselves can control. Given the form that they have been in in recent weeks, they ought to have enough to earn all three points against the struggling Bees without being overly worried about any role that the referee of VAR might play in the match. 

Arsenal have already had one unfortunate VAR experience up against Saturday’s opponents, though. Last season, Ivan Toney scored a goal for the Bees against the Gunners that PGMOL later admitted should have been ruled out, but was allowed to stand due a VAR error, as reported by Sky Sports. A repeat of such a controversy could be disastrous for Arsenal this weekend.