WAYNE ROONEY was among the baffled Match of the Day pundits who could not believe Arsenal’s Gabriel was not sent off against Chelsea.
Arsenal came back from behind to defeat the Blues 2-1 at the Emirates on Sunday.
But they were fortunate not to be a goal and a man down after a chaotic scramble in the box led to star defender Gabriel kicking Chelsea keeper Emiliano Martinez in the head.
The pair were both lying on the ground in the melee when Martinez managed to take control of the ball, but that didn’t stop the wild boot of his opponent catching him square in the face.
Rooney was not happy with the decision, calling Gabriel “extremely lucky” not to have seen red.
He explained: “You don’t really see it the first time, but when you see the replay and you slow it down, Martinez has got the ball in his hands and he boots him in the head.
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“He’s got the ball in two hands, he’s way over the top of the ball and he boots him in the head.
“So I think he’s extremely lucky to stay on the pitch.
Co-star Ashley Young was in total agreement with his fellow Manchester United alumnus, saying: “I’m exactly the same way.
“We talked about it at the time and we said that nothing came of it.
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Saturday 12 September
Bournemouth
15:00
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Brentford
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15:00
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Sunday 6 September
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Saturday 5 September
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“But when the ball is on the floor there and you see Martinez has got it in his hands, Gabriel kicks so high and kicks him in the head, when his head’s up there.
“I’m not sure why it’s not gone to VAR and they’ve looked at it properly and properly studied it because he’s nowhere near the ball. I think he’s got away with one there.”
Arsenal were soon able to equalise thanks to a Kai Havertz strike beating Martinez at his near post.
And Martin Odegaard capped it off with a composed finish to keep Mikel Arteta‘s side in pole position to defend their title.
Ex-ref Mark Halsey’s view
In an incident-packed first half in the Arsenal versus Chelsea game at the Emirates.
There was an incident early on in the first half where Arsenal took a free kick, played into the six yard box, and there was mayhem.
Everybody was on the floor.
There are legs flying all over the place, and then the ball was loose and Gabriel aims a kick at the ball, totally misses the ball, and then catches Chelsea goalkeeper Martinez in the head.
Now, is that an act of violent conduct or was it just normal contact?
Yes, for me, I think there’s a doubt there to whether it was violent conduct, only Gabriel will know if he deliberately kicked Martinez.
But for me, without a doubt, it’s not violent conduct because everybody’s in there.
And he’s got a right to go for the ball and because they’re all on the floor, that’s why he’s caught Martinez in the head.
So I think it’s correct that VAR never got involved, and just after that, Arsenal had a goal disallowed rightly for offside.
So I think the officials and VAR is working well at present in this game.