Wolves vs Arsenal ref watch: Three decisions Paul Tierney got wrong at Molineux
Paul Tierney was the man in the middle at Molineux as Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Wolves at Molineux.
Arsenal were ahead inside the first five minutes as Bukayo Saka latched onto Declan Rice’s cross to grab his fifth goal of the league campaign so far.
Wolves refused to roll over despite their lowly league position, but the Gunners scored the all-important second of the game just before the hour mark as Piero Hincapie slotted past Jose Sa.
The hosts did hit back soon after though, as a fine strike from Hugo Bueno reduced the deficit, and they held on to then snatch a draw in injury-time through Riccardo Calafiori’s own goal.
Football Insider have looked at three decisions that match referee Tierney did not get right during the clash at Molineux.
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Piero Hincapie should have been booked for simulation
Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty on the stroke of half-time as Hincapie went down in the hosts’ area under pressure from Andre.
Replays showed that the Ecuador international was slightly caught by the Brazilian midfielder, but not nearly enough for a spot-kick to be given, as Tierney waved the Gunners’ appeals away.
The nature of his theatrical dive to the floor should have seen Tierney also book Hincapie and give a free-kick to Wolves, but he instead chose to play on.
Adam Armstrong deserved a yellow card for head-first challenge on Gabriel
Tierney literally kept his cards close to his chest, as he only dished out two all evening, but Wolves striker Armstrong can count himself fortunate that he didn’t make it three late on.
The former Southampton man was a little too eager to win the ball back in the 86th minute as he lunged head-first into Gabriel Magalhaes and caused the Arsenal defender to writhe in pain in on the floor.
It was an incident that was clearly caused by Armstrong being too rough, and should have resulted in him seeing yellow.
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Santiago Bueno should have been sent off for a second bookable offence
Bueno, who is one of several Wolves players with the same surname, was also one of the two Old Gold stars to be booked as he complained over the aforementioned Hincapie decision.
He should have received his marching orders in the closing stages of the match as he made no attempt to play the ball and used his shoulder to barge Leandro Trossard in the head.
Tierney did not see the offence and so did not reach into his pocket once more, as Wolves went on to snatch the equaliser moments later.