SPOT-KICK TURF TO TAKE

FROM BACK PAGE lot,” said the Clarets boss after referee Lee Mason ruled James Tarkowski had pushed Aaron Ramsey two minutes into stoppage time. “It was highly unlikely it was not going to get given on a day like today, that’s all I will say. “It was a smash in the back compared to what most people go down with. There’s a definite nudge in the back but I don’t think he was going to get the ball, it’s going over him. “It was never not going to be given. I can assure you. You lay your hands on someone, he goes down. They’re tough calls, you have to be 100 per cent – which I assume the ref is.

“Probably it gets given, but we’ve had a lot not given. I don’t know why. The bigger clubs seem to get the decisions. I’m not sure if that’s a fact.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger defended Ramsey – targeted with cheat chants by home fans as he left the Turf Moor pitch – insisting he had not dived and was left with a neck injury by Tarkowski’s challenge.

He said: “It looked a clear penalty, I’d have to watch again.” He claimed Arsenal should have had an earlier spot-kick for a foul by Robbie Brady on Hector Bellerin (below). “I can understand why they were disappointed but from outside it looked a penalty,” said Wenger of the Ramsey incident. “When you speak to him, he didn’t throw himself on the ground, he wanted to go back and flick the ball, he was pushed in the back, had a neck problem from the push, it was a very strong push.” The win lifted Arsenal to fourth and Wenger said: “We must congratulate our centrebacks for a remarkable job.”