Mikel Arteta’s assertion that Arsenal was denied two “scandalous” penalties against Newcastle is supported by Gabriel.
On Tuesday night, Arsenal’s lead over Newcastle at the top of the Premier League standings remained unchanged as the two teams left Emirates Stadium with a scoreless draw. In a competitive match in north London, referee Andy Madley issued eight yellow cards but rejected two home team pleas for penalties.
One was over an alleged handball inside the Newcastle penalty area late on, which came after an incident involving Dan Burn and Gabriel during an Arsenal free kick. Arteta was visibly angry in his post-match interview and blasted the officials for missing “two scandalous penalties”
Gabriel clearly agrees with his manager, because he took to Twitter just after midnight to share a video of the second incident with a hand-to-face emoji as the caption. The clip, which has been viewed 1.2million times, shows Burn and Gabriel battling to reach a cross first inside the box.
The first angle sees the Arsenal centre-back fall to the floor under pressure from Burn and Sven Botman before goalkeeper Nick Pope punches the ball clear. On the second angle, Burn clearly has a hold of Gabriel’s shirt.
Arteta was extremely animated on the touchline throughout the game and did not hold back when speaking to the press post-match. “I’m really proud of the way we played, the way we dominated the game,” he began.
The question of whether Madley was in charge of the match was put to Arteta. “He has the whistle, so he has control,” the Spaniard remarked. Sorry, I’m not here to discuss the refs.
With a victory, Arsenal would have been 10 points ahead of Manchester City going into Thursday’s game against Chelsea. Arsenal must currently make due with an eight-point deficit, and Arteta disagreed that two points were dropped.
“That’s not it. The sensation is not important,” he remarked. “I believe the team was in the lead; we chased after it and truly wanted it. The team was clearly making every effort to win. That was something we lacked in the last third, then we lacked.