Referee whose 'monumental error' gifted Liverpool Premier League title boost gets Arsenal role

Paul Tierney has been appointed as the VAR official for Arsenal’s game against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. The Gunners have a score to settle with the Bees following the infamous VAR error of Lee Mason when the sides last met at the Emirates Stadium as Ivan Toney scored an equaliser that never should have stood.

However, they will have to do so knowing that Tierney will be in the booth following what has been described by former referee Mike Dean as a “monumental error” during Liverpool’s clash with Nottingham Forest. With the game heading toward a 0-0 draw which would have been a huge title boost for the Gunners, Ibrahima Konate’s head injury saw the referee, Tierney, blow up to attend to the issue. What followed caused hysteria at the City Ground.

«Obviously Nottingham Forest are upset, I would have been upset if I was involved with Nottingham Forest as well, but unfortunately for the referee he's made a monumental error,» Dean told Sky Sports.

«I think he'll know this morning that he's made a mistake and hopefully he can rectify that in the future. Unfortunately for Paul it is a mistake and it's a bad one as well, it obviously leads to a goal eventually.

»The law states that whoever has the ball when the play does stop, the ball goes back to them. Hudson-Odoi clearly had the ball and the ball and the ball should have been dropped to Nottingham Forest on the wing.”

Mikel Arteta has already been involved in his own fair share of refereeing dramas this season. From the Newcastle United post-match outburst to the frustration at an almost identical incident of ‘inconclusive evidence’ that led to West Ham’s first goal in the 2-0 defeat on Boxing Day.

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