Olaleye Idowu
Former Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and QPR star, Les Ferdinand, has noted that Arsenal defender, Gabriel, will be embarrassed by the role he played in Newcastle United’s opening goal in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Newcastle broke the deadlock against the run of play on Sunday afternoon with Nick Woltemade heading home Sandro Tonali’s cross on 34 minutes.
Arsenal players rushed to referee Jarred Gillett to complain about a possible push on Gabriel by Woltemade, but their appeals hit a brick wall as the video assistant referee did not intervene.
Ferdinand said that Gabriel would be ’embarrassed’ when he takes his time to watch the incident again, as there was no push.
He said on Sky Sports, “When I first looked at it, I saw Gabriel go down and I thought, ‘oh no he’s put two hands on his back’.
“But then, when I looked at it again, when Gabriel sees this, he will be embarrassed. He’ll be embarrassed when he sees that.
“I think it looked like there had been a push because all the players started appealing for it, but then when you see it again, you think, ‘how did he go down for that?’”
Woltemade’s goal, being his second since a £69m summer move from Stuttgart, could not secure a win for Newcastle United on Sunday.
Arsenal came from behind to beat the Magpies 2-1, scoring two late goals in the 84th and 95th minutes to take all three points.
The win also reduced the gap between them and Liverpool to just 2 points as the Reds suffered their first defeat of the season earlier on Saturday.
Arne Slot’s men were beaten 2-1 by Crystal Palace.
