Thomas Frank left seething by Kai Havertz's controversial winner against Brentford

Thomas Frank, the head coach of Brentford, argued that Kai Havertz ought to have been dismissed before he scored the last-minute winner in their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.

With a streak of eight consecutive Premier League victories, Arsenal advanced to the top of the leaderboard, leading Liverpool by one point and Manchester City by two, the latter of whom still had a match to play on Sunday.

Arsenal took the lead with a goal from Declan Rice, but Brentford bounced back with an equalizer from Yoane Wissa after a disastrous mistake by Aaron Ramsdale. Havertz then stepped up to score the decisive tally, pushing his team into the top spot.

In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Frank took pride in Brentford's showing, but he also expressed his frustration with Havertz's alleged dive over a decent attempt from Nathan Collins, especially considering that Havertz was already carrying a yellow card.

Frank lavished praise on his team, 'We are incredibly proud of our team and the individual players. We managed to hold Arsenal, who have notoriously scored 100 goals in an unknown number of matches, to a defensive masterclass.'

He went on to endorse his team's performance, 'Our performance was exceptional, especially taking into account the current form of Arsenal and ourselves, not to mention our injuries. In my opinion, Havertz should have been dismissed before scoring. It was a blatant dive. It may have been tricky for the referee to spot, but the linesman should have seen it.'

'We're in the fight of our lives. We need the tide to turn, especially on matters beyond our control like referee calls.'

He continued, 'I've always believed in celebrating victories and goals. It was clear they respected us and recognized our strength. Their celebration showed just how victorious they felt.'

'We can take several positives from our performance. We will continue to strive for improvement. I reminded the team how proud I am of their outstanding performance. If you take a blow, you get back on your feet and advance.'

In a later meeting with press, Frank reiterated his belief that Havertz should have been sent off, stating that 'Havertz clearly dived. He should have received a second yellow, resulting in a red card, and thus, would not have been able to score the winning goal.'