Ex-PGMOL chief disagrees with Paul Tierney as controversial Wolves vs Arsenal footage re-analysed
Ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has said that he would have awarded a free-kick for Santiago Bueno’s foul on Leandro Trossard in Wednesday’s clash, but nothing more.
In a game full of late controversy, Arsenal gave up a two-goal lead to Wolves at Molineux in gut-wrenching circumstances.
The Gunners had been two goals to the good through Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie, but crumbled in a 30-minute disaster for Mikel Arteta’s men.
Hugo Bueno’s curling strike reduced the deficit before a mix-up between Gabriel and David Raya allowed Tom Edozie’s shot to deflect off Riccardo Calafiori and find the net.
Gabriel Jesus expressed his frustration at the final whistle by shoving Yerson Mosquera to the floor as the centre-back celebrated.
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Keith Hackett addresses Leandro Trossard incident
Minutes before Edozie’s equaliser, Trossard had spent several minutes down with an injury to his face.
The winger would eventually have to make way, and felt that he had been intentionally struck by Wolves defender Bueno.
| Wolves | Match stats | Arsenal |
| 42% | Possession | 58% |
| 5 | Shots | 10 |
| 2 | Shots on target | 4 |
| 0.29 | Expected goals (xG) | 1.60 |
| 1 | Corners | 3 |
And the replays did not look good for the 27-year-old, who clearly looked at the Arsenal forward before driving his shoulder into the face as the ball came towards them.
Bueno was on a yellow card, but faced no further action. Referee Paul Tierney did not even give a free-kick, and the VAR took a brief look before confirming the decision.
Hackett told Football Insider that the referee should have come to a different decision, but that he would not have sent off Bueno.
“It was a foul, and a free kick should have been awarded,” he said. “I would not have issued a yellow card, but I would have stopped the game, invited the Captain to join me and then issued a final warning to the player.”
Arsenal fans fume at Paul Tierney
While it cannot be known whether a different decision would have had any bearing on the final result, Arsenal fans were right to be frustrated by Tierney’s lack of action.
Bueno’s shoulder bump was an open-and-shut case. The defender had barely even glanced at the ball before he aggressively drove into the forward.
Arsenal fans fumed on social media, and one wrote: “Santiago Bueno should have been sent off. He’s already on a yellow card. Clearly eyeballs Trossard and intentionally knocks him down.”
Another wrote that the officiating was “extremely poor”, while another said it was the “easiest second yellow”.