Arsenal beat Burnley 1-0 on Monday evening, but the victory was overshadowed by a second-half challenge from Kai Havertz that drew a yellow card, a VAR check and a wave of debate over whether it should have been more. Havertz had already scored the only goal of the game in the 38th minute, powering home from a corner to put Arsenal in front at the Emirates.
The incident came shortly after the restart when Havertz went in on Lesley Ugochukwu with a challenge that got nowhere near the ball and caught the midfielder high on the achilles with studs up. The referee booked him, and the decision was checked and confirmed by VAR, which judged the tackle not to be serious foul play. The Premier League Match Centre later said the referee's call of yellow card to Havertz was checked and confirmed by VAR because the challenge was deemed not to be serious foul play.
The reaction was instant. Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, said he did not like the challenge, calling it vicious and saying Havertz could be in trouble because of the height of it, the fact it was on the standing leg and how far he was from the ball. Rob Green, on Radio 5 Live, described it as studs up, with both feet off the ground, and said Havertz was a lucky boy, adding that many viewers would be looking back at still images and remembering other incidents that ended in red cards.
Arteta took Havertz off a few minutes later, ending a night that had begun with his decisive header-like finish from a corner and quickly turned into a disciplinary talking point. It was the first time this season that Arsenal had won 1-0 with Havertz scoring the only goal, and the timing made the episode matter even more: Arsenal were being talked about as 90 minutes away from ending more than 20 years of hurt in the English top flight, with a title still within reach if Manchester City slipped up against Bournemouth on Tuesday evening. Had Arsenal gone down to 10 men, it could have proved disastrous.
That is the tension inside the result. Arsenal left with three points, but the margin was thin and the judgment call was close enough to leave the club relieved rather than comfortable. Havertz delivered the goal that won the match, then came within a VAR review of changing the whole evening.
