Arsene Wenger apologised to Anthony Taylor after the Arsenal manager was sent-off during a frantic 2-1 victory over Burnley for pushing the fourth official after the visitors were awarded an injury-time penalty, but he faces a touchline ban for a touchline incident that he immediately regretted.

With his side already down to 10 men following Granit Xhaka’s second red card at the Emirates Stadium this season, Wenger watched on in anger as Andre Gray equalised from the penalty spot following Francis Coquelin’s foul on Ashley Barnes.

Referee Jon Moss marched over to the touchline afterwards, consulted fourth official Taylor, and sent Wenger to the stands. However, he appeared in the tunnel soon after, and when Taylor told him to leave, the Arsenal manager twice pushed him before leaving.

Wenger revealed he also said something offensive to the official, though refused to say what that was, and faces action by the Football Association that could result in a touchline ban.

“I regret everything,” Wenger said afterwards. “I should have shut up and gone home basically. And I apologise for that.”

Asked if he has spoken to the officials, Wenger answered: “Not yet because I have a press conference to make. It was nothing bad, I said something that you hear every day in football. Overall nine times out of 10 you are not sent to the stands for that but if I am I am and I should have shut up completely. I was quite calm the whole game, more than usual, but just in the last two or three minutes…”

But while he apologised for his actions, he insisted that the 98th-minute penalty for his side that Alexis Sanchez converted to win the match was the correct call and that Burnley defender Ben Mee should have been sent off, while claiming that the decision to penalise Coquelin was the wrong one.

“I saw it but it didn’t look a penalty to me,” Wenger said of the foul on Barnes. “Maybe it was one I don’t know.

“Our penalty I saw on television. I think it was a penalty and a red card.”

Wenger’s side were put under pressure thanks to Xhaka’s second red card of the season, having also been sent off by the same referee, Jon Moss, in the 3-2 win over Swansea City here last October. The Arsenal manager was unsure if the two-footed challenge was a straight dismissal, but refused to explain if he felt that the previous sending-off proved decisive in Moss’s thinking.

Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Petr Cech – 6 out of 10 Made a handful of saves throughout, but was not tested to his limits at any stage. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Gabriel Paulista – 5 out of 10 Looked strong going forward, but defensive positioning looked lapse at times. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Shkodran Mustafi – 6 out of 10 Scored the opener for Arsenal following a worthy penalty shout. Defended well, also. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Laurent Koscielny – 6 out of 10 Made a number of crucial interceptions, challenges and clearances. As per usual with Kos. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Nacho Monreal – 5 out of 10 His decisions when in possession were questionable and he was losing all of the 50/50 challenges. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Granit Xhaka – 3 out of 10 Received a red card for a terrible tackle on Defour. Mediocre performance other than that. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Aaron Ramsey – 6 out of 10 Did the simple stuff well, but his deliveries into the danger zones could have certainly been better. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Alex Iwobi – 7 out of 10 His work rate was faultless - he more than occupied his defensive duties. He caused problems going forward. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Mesut Ozil – 7 out of 10 Was a key element to Arsenal’s attacking force and he created a cluster of chances for the home side. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Alexis Sanchez – 9 out of 10 He terrorised the Burnley defence throughout and his penalty to win the game was an example of his confidence and composure. Truly sublime. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Olivier Giroud – 6 out of 10 Failed to cause any real problems for Heaton, but he was involved throughout. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Tom Heaton – 7 out of 10 Aside from the goals, he made a number of quality saves to deny an embarrassing score line. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Matthew Lowton – 6 out of 10 Defended well and made some encouraging runs forward, overlapping the midfielders. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Michael Keane – 7 out of 10 Stood his ground against the relentless Arsenal strike force. Made some huge tackles and held the line well at the back. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Ben Mee – 6 out of 10 Made a handful of vital tackles to dispossess the Arsenal forwards. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Stephen Ward – 6 out of 10 Courageously battled throughout and start moves from the back when possible. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Dean Marney – 5 out of 10 It was a tiresome performance from a man of such quality. Should have impacted the game a lot more. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings George Boyd – 5 out of 10 Was wasteful in possession, but defensively he showed glimpses of brilliance. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Jeff Hendrick – 5 out of 10 Gave possession away cheaply, but his work rate was obvious out there. He reads the game well. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Steven Defour – 7 out of 10 His set pieces were dangerous and he was a key element to Burnley going throughout. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Andre Gray – 6 out of 10 Scored the late equaliser to keep his side afloat, but had a somewhat quiet game aside from that. Lacked service from the midfield men. Arsenal vs Burnley player ratings Ashley Barnes – 6 out of 10 Won the late penalty for Burnley, but otherwise it was a mediocre display. Had a few shots, but apart from that there was not much action surrounding the striker.

“Xhaka’s red, honestly I have to look at it again but the noises I get are that it was a red card,” he said. “He has to control his game and not punish the team with a lack of control in his tackling. We don’t encourage our midfielders to go down on tackling, we want them to stand up and not to make this kind of fouls. If it’s a bad tackle it’s a red card.

“I’m disappointed that we played with 10 men. We’ve got two red cards and four penalties at home now, you cannot say that we make it easy for ourselves and as well that you do not get it easy.”

Jonathan Moss sent Granit Xhaka off for the second time this season after his tackle on Steven Defour (Getty)

If Wenger was not the angry ball of frustration that he usually is following such controversial incidents, that may be because he knew exactly where Arsenal sit now, second in the Premier League table and the biggest challengers to leaders Chelsea. He had time to joke at how good his view was from the tunnel, and while Arsenal’s main rivals all dropped point on Saturday,he wasn’t going to let himself get carried away with the result that once again shines light on the character of this current side.