{"id":244059,"date":"2026-05-18T22:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/horrible-var-drama-rocks-title-race-again-as-arsenal-on-brink-after-vicious-act-premier-league-wrap\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:34:00","slug":"horrible-var-drama-rocks-title-race-again-as-arsenal-on-brink-after-vicious-act-premier-league-wrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/horrible-var-drama-rocks-title-race-again-as-arsenal-on-brink-after-vicious-act-premier-league-wrap\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Horrible\u2019: VAR drama rocks title race AGAIN as Arsenal on brink after \u2018vicious\u2019 act \u2014 Premier League Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Arsenal is on the brink of ending a 22-year wait to win the Premier League after beating Burnley 1-0 on Tuesday AEST to open up a five-point lead at the top. <\/p>\n

Kai Havertz headed in the only goal but was also lucky to avoid a second-half red card that could swung the title race back in Manchester City\u2019s favour. <\/p>\n

The Gunners could be crowned champions as early as Wednesday AEST should City fail to win at Bournemouth.<\/p>\n

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Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Even if City do end the Cherries\u2019 16-game unbeaten run and beat Aston Villa, Arsenal will secure the title with victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday. <\/p>\n

However, the narrow margin of victory against a Burnley side that have long since been relegated does offer City hope.<\/p>\n

An Arsenal draw at Selhurst Park would allow City to snatch the title on goal difference if Pep Guardiola\u2019s team win their final two matches. <\/p>\n

To add extra intrigue to the final days of the season, reports suggest Guardiola will leave City<\/a> after a decorated decade in charge after Villa visit the Etihad on Sunday. <\/p>\n

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Arsenal’s Kai Havertz celebrates. AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roared on by an expectant capacity crowd in their final home game of the season, Arsenal were tipped to put the Clarets to the sword with ease. <\/p>\n

Burnley have taken just two points from their last 10 matches but made Mikel Arteta\u2019s men work for the three points on another nervy night at the Emirates. <\/p>\n

Leandro Trossard struck the post from the edge of the area before Bukayo Saka saw a penalty appeal waived away as he attempted to turn in Havertz\u2019s low cross. <\/p>\n

Arsenal were forced to rely on their set piece threat once more to prise Burnley open. <\/p>\n

Havertz rose highest to power in Saka\u2019s delivery on 37 minutes as they scored from a corner for the 18th time in the league this season. <\/p>\n

Yet the floodgates did not open and Arsenal were very fortunate not to have to defend their lead with 10 men for the final quarter. <\/p>\n

Havertz raked his studs down the calf of Lesley Ugochukwu in a mistimed challenge.<\/p>\n

Despite a VAR review, the original decision of a yellow card was not upgraded to red.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a horrible one, it\u2019s vicious from Havertz,\u201d Manchester United Gary Neville said on Sky Sports commentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a red. There\u2019s no way you\u2019re getting the ball, you can only hurt the player there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think (the VAR call is) right – he\u2019s a lucky boy. I\u2019d get him off the pitch straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Havertz was quickly replaced by Viktor Gyokeres. The Swede\u2019s arrival failed to kickstart Arsenal as an attacking force. <\/p>\n

But their rock solid defensive record again edged them closer to the title. Since losing to City last month, Arsenal have not conceded in their last four league games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal is on the brink of ending a 22-year wait to win the Premier League after beating Burnley 1-0 on Tuesday AEST to open up a five-point lead at the top. Kai Havertz headed in the only goal but was also lucky to avoid a second-half red card that could swung the title race back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-244059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}