Referee’s chief Keith Hackett is to issue an apology to Arsene Wenger, following the farcical scenes at the end of Saturday’s defeat to Manchester United.

The Gunners boss was sent to the stands in stoppage time for kicking a water bottle and confusion ensued when it became apparent that Wenger didn’t know where he was supposed to move to.

With just minutes remaining in the match, the sending off has been deemed unnecessary and as a result Wenger will receive an apology. League Managers Association chief Richard Bevan has been speaking to Keith Hackett and said: “he [Hackett] fully recognises the situation was an error and an apology will follow to Arsene Wenger,”

“Although correct in ‘law’, the decision was completely out of context in the game and it was followed by the nonsense which followed over where Arsene Wenger should sit.”

Aside from the timing of the decision, Wenger’s frustration was also understandable, after his team had followed the Premier League Odds and outplayed United for much of the game.

Arsenal got off to a good start and deservedly led going into the interval, courtesy of a 25 yard strike from Andrey Arshavin.

However, their game plan fell apart after the break, when two big errors of judgement left Arsenal chasing a point as the match entered stoppage time. First, Manchester United won a penalty after a poorly timed challenge from Manuel Almunia and then Abou Diaby somehow headed the ball into his own net, when he appeared to be under very little pressure.

Despite the setbacks, Arsenal looked to have secured a deserved point when Robin Van Persie fired home in injury time, only for a linesman’s flag to rule out the goal. While the decision was correct, the event summed up the match for Wenger and by all accounts his reaction was fairly restrained. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, that particular view was not shared by the fourth official.