- Gabriel available for Newcastle United game
- Arsenal centre-back escaped red card for Haaland incident
- Could the Brazilian still face a ban?
Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes is rather lucky to be available for the coming weekend’s fixture against Newcastle United.
The Brazilian was let off with just a yellow card by Anthony Taylor after seemingly throwing his head towards Erling Haaland in a scuffle during the Gunners’ defeat to Manchester City.
Given the current state of play, it would have been a big boost for the Magpies to see Arsenal depleted by Gabriel’s absence. Instead, Eddie Howe’s men face an uphill battle on their travels to the Emirates amid a torrid run of form.
Could Gabriel still be banned for Newcastle game?
Unfortunately for Newcastle United, there doesn’t appear to be much hope of a ban being imposed on the Arsenal defender due to a few factors.
Anthony Taylor’s decision is final
Due to the incident being officiated in real time, with Anthony Taylor handing out a yellow card to both of the involved parties, the disciplinary process is already deemed to be done and dusted.
Per the FA’s regulations, a judgment on any given situation is final once it has been addressed by either match or VAR officials and a decision has been reached.
VAR reviewed the incident
Whilst the move almost certainly appeared over the threshold to warrant a red card for violent conduct and was as close as you can get to a headbutt, VAR dismissed the incident.
The Premier League has since communicated that the offence was reviewed at the time, with the VAR room concluding that the contact was not “excessively aggressive or violent”.
Exceptional circumstances not met
In very rare scenarios, a ban can be imposed or extended after the fact if it meets the threshold for “exceptional circumstances” to be applied.
But, given that no ban was imposed in the first place, the sentiment is that the Gabriel-Haaland incident falls far short of the high standard which needs to be met for disciplinary intervention to become a possibility.
Gabriel escapes a three-match ban
All of those things mean that, despite it being unjust, the Arsenal centre-back will get away without a ban of any sort.
The incident, if punished with a straight red card, would have seen Gabriel incur a three-match ban, meaning he would miss this weekend’s fixture against Newcastle and two more important games in the run-in.
Gabriel will most likely come up against William Osula at The Emirates, with the Danish forward having scored two in his last two.
It is a fixture Arsenal desperately need to take all three points from as they look to fend off the challenge of Manchester City.
For Newcastle, it is a game which could be damage limitation rather than posing any sort of genuine threat to Arsenal’s title hopes, especially given the abhorrent recent form.
In other news, ‘Enquiry Made’: Newcastle United eye ex Man Utd star as ‘undeniable’ upgrade.
