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27th Jan 2017

Arsene Wenger given four-match touchline ban for pushing official

He'll miss a couple of very key games.

Alex Finnis

Young hothead Arsene Wenger has been slapped with a four-match touchline ban for going on a bit of a mad one in Arsenal’s win over Burnley last weekend.

The 67-year-old reprobate was charged with pushing and abusing the fourth official, Anthony Taylor, after he was sent off.

The ban means he’ll miss Saturday’s FA Cup game against Southampton and league games against Watford, Chelsea and Hull.

The Chelsea game sticks out as a big miss, with the second-placed Gunners looking to close an eight-point gap from Antonio Conte’s side.

Image: Shaun Botterill / Getty

Despite Wenger losing it and being sent off when Burnley were awarded an injury time penalty which levelled the scores at 1-1, Arsenal still went on to win the game thanks to another penalty, a 97th minute panenka from Alexis Sanchez.

Wenger did apologise for his rowdy actions after the game, telling Sky Sports: “I’d had a few pints and watched Football Factory last night, so just really fancied doing someone in*.”

*He actually said: “I should have shut up – I apologise for not having done that.

“It was nothing malicious. I should have kept my control, even if it was in a hectic time.”

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