Watch: Arsenal penalty appeal not given by referee after Burnley handball
There was plenty of late second-half drama at Turf Moor between Arsenal and Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides were on level terms after Granit Xhaka’s error gifted Burnley an equaliser, cancelling out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early opener.
The second half was livened up by the substitutes, with Nicolas Pepe coming on and having a penalty appeal waved away after the ball struck the arm of Burnley defender Erik Pieters twice in a couple of seconds.
There could be no reasonable complaints over the first one, with the ball bouncing up and hitting his arm, but there was a stronger case for the second one, in which Pepe knocked the ball up and onto his upper limb.
The VAR officials at Stockley Park will have been taking a close look at the incident, but didn’t deem it worthy of action, probably due to Pieters’ close proximity.
Shortly after this, Pieters was shown a red card and a penalty was awarded for another supposed handball, but it was taken back after replays showed it struck his shoulder.
This is wild 😮
Incredible defending from Burnley's Erik Pieters on the goal line…
He's shown a red card for handball, but the decision is overturned! pic.twitter.com/mtfDP1XfeY
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 6, 2021
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