‘Lucky boy’ Kai Havertz puts Arsenal on brink of title as Premier League explain why he avoided red card

Kai Havertz has been labelled a ‘lucky boy’ after avoiding a red card during Arsenal’s potentially title-winning victory on Monday.

The Gunners beat Burnley 1-0 thanks to Havertz’s first-half goal, but the forward almost made things more nervy than needed.

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His towering header was enough to get the job done for Mikel Arteta‘s side, who could win the Premier League title on Tuesday.

However, a poor challenge on Lesley Ugochukwu could have led to the visitors at the Emirates Stadium causing a late upset.

Havertz looked to prevent Ugochukwu from breaking away for Burnley as the match neared the final 20 minutes.

The German slid in from behind and caught his opponent right on the back of the calf, with his studs up.

It left the Clarets players furious, with VAR asking referee Paul Tierney to pause the game as they reviewed the incident.

And as replays were shown, Gary Neville made his thoughts on the challenge from clear, thinking Havertz should be sent off.

But that’s not what happened, as the on-field decision stood, with the Manchester United legend bemused at the outcome, calling for Arteta to substitute his striker.

Neville said on Sky Sports: “I don’t think that’s right. I think he’s a lucky boy… not just a trip but the studs on a standing leg. I think he needs to leave the pitch now, Arteta needs to get him off.”

talkSPORT’s Stuart Pearce also commented: “Nowhere near the ball, he can’t say he went near the ball. It’s very borderline. He’s dipped his toe into the violent conduct.”

Just five minutes after the tackle, Arteta did end up taking Havertz off, bringing Viktor Gyokeres on in his place.

Premier League explanation

Following the incident, which led to some confusion from fans and Neville, the Premier League released an explanation.

On their official Match Centre account on X, they wrote: “The referee’s call of yellow card to Havertz was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed not to be serious foul play.”

That meant that Arsenal were able to see out the game with 11 men, holding on to their 1-0 lead against Burnley.

And the result saw the Gunners move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with one game to play.

Therefore, should Manchester City fail to beat Bournemouth on Tuesday evening, their rivals will win the title.

So, it leaves Arteta’s men now on the brink of their first league success in 22 years.

One hand on the title

Arsenal take on Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, live on talkSPORT, knowing that the title is almost theirs.

The Gunners have spent 556 nights top of the table since the 2022-23 season – over 200 more than any other side in that time.

And on top of that, Arsenal have now won 25+ Premier League games in three of the last four seasons (26 in 2022-23, 28 in 2023-24, 25 in 2025-26), with Arteta achieving this feat as often as Arsene Wenger did (26 in 2001-02, 26 in 2003-04, 25 in 2004-05).

They will hope to finally go all the way and claim the trophy this time around after missing out multiple times in previous years.