Arsenal are set to face Manchester United in a crucial clash in the Premier League title race, and nerves are already starting to build.
Mikel Arteta’s side simply must win if they are to keep pace with Manchester City at the top of the table, but whilst they might be licking their lips at the prospect of facing an out-of-form Man United side, Arsenal’s record at Old Trafford is not a positive one.
Arsene Wenger suffered some damaging defeats at Old Trafford over the years. The infamous 50th game, which saw Arsenal’s 49-game Invincible streak come to an end, was marred with refereeing controversy.
Arsenal fans will be paying close attention to the refereeing performance, as well as the team’s, in such an important match, and there is already anger, as Paul Tierney has now been confirmed as the match official for the game.
Arsenal fans fume as Paul Tierney named match official for Manchester United clash
Tierney was the referee in the same fixture last season, which saw Arsenal lose 3-1 courtesy of goals from Antony and Marcus Rashford.
Gabriel Martinelli had a goal wrongly disallowed, for which an apology was later issued, as the referee and VAR team claimed Martin Odegaard had fouled Christian Eriksen in the build-up.
Fans have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their frustration that the same referee has been given the same fixture.
“Aside from Paul Tierney being from Greater Manchester (given it’s hard to find a ref that isn’t) how does he get the same game this season after a mistake the PGMOL had to apologise for last time around?” One fan pointed out.
“Guy who made a monumental error that cost us the game last season gets rewarded by refereeing the same fixture a year later,” another fan stated.
“I’ll never forgive him for that disallowed Martinelli goal at Old Trafford last season,” another added.
“This is a joke not only because he is from Manchester but both him and VAR got a huge decision wrong at our game last season that cost us,” one fan posted, highlighting the poor selection of referees which saw Mikel Arteta land himself in controversy earlier this season after criticising them.
“Ah brilliant, the only man in football who thought Ødegaard fouled Eriksen last season to wipe off our opening goal,” a fan fumed.
Arsenal are heading into a must-win game, and fans have also pointed out that the Gunners simply need to put themselves in a position where tight refereeing calls won’t affect the result.
“If we don’t win it will be because we weren’t good enough not because of this bloke,” one fan claimed.
If there is refereeing controversy during the fixture, many Arsenal fans will argue that the selection of Tierney as the match official had doomed the game from the start.