Gabriel ban and fine? FA handed 'simple' decision verdict after Erling Haaland headbutt

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes headbutted Manchester City star Erling Haaland during the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium

The Premier League title race was tilted on its head after Manchester City defeated Arsenal to hand themselves an opportunity to go top of the table in a matter of days. Erling Haaland's winning goal firmly shifted the momentum to the Etihad as Pep Guardiola's side have just a three-point gap to their rivals.

The Catalan coach is not getting ahead of himself despite the jubilation that was present on the pitch as the club kept their title dreams alive. "Momentum changes," Guardiola said afterwards.

"People said to me that the momentum from Arsenal is bad. What I saw today wasn't a bad momentum. They are in the semi-final of the Champions League, where they haven't lost a single game. Momentum shifts in one instance.

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"The reality is just one thing: they are top of the league. One ahead on goal difference. We have to enjoy it, celebrate it, take the good things. But don't lose the focus. In three days we go to Burnley."

But should the momentum have shifted into City's court to a greater extent? Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes forced his head into Haaland's as their physical battle reached boiling point.

The Brazilian was only shown a yellow card as VAR decided that "the action from Gabriel deemed not to be excessively aggressive or violent" and did not intervene to upgrade the punishment to a red card. Now, the feisty defender will be available for the run-in, with retrospective action unable to take place.

The Football Association can only retrospectively punish a player if an incident was missed by the on-field officials and VAR. The FA are not permitted to re-referee a match with Gabriel's indiscretion not meeting the threshold for an 'exceptional circumstance'.

But was Gabriel a lucky boy? Should he be punished? Our writers have had their say below.

Mark Wakefield

Gabriel should have been sent off for the headbutt on Erling Haaland, it’s as simple as that. I’m not quite sure how the defender avoided being given his marching orders.

Once Gabriel moves his head towards Haaland’s, the way that he does, a red card should have been issued by referee Anthony Taylor.

City may have gone on to win the game, but what the lack of a sending off for Gabriel means is that the defender will still be available for key fixtures for Arsenal in the run-in.

If Gabriel had been sent off, he would now be facing a suspension, which would have been a major blow to Arsenal in the title race.

City now go to Burnley in midweek looking to go level on points with Arsenal in the table, where they would also climb to the top of the league standings before the weekend’s games.

Scott Trotter

The Arsenal defender was definitely lucky to stay on the pitch. If the movement of his head was not enough to warrant a red card, we’ve all seen players given their marching orders in similar situations, it’s incredible that it wasn’t his second yellow card of the match.

Obviously, the fact that he stayed on the pitch will be a boost to the Gunners for their remaining games. As much as he came off second best against Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki on Sunday, he is undoubtedly pivotal to Arsenal’s title chances.

A ban and a fine? It was just about restrained enough not to take any retrospective action after VAR decided not to intervene. A substantial win over Burnley will sting far worse.

Matty Hewitt

The Arsenal man was lucky to get away with a red card, despite there being little actual contact during the incident. That’s because the Premier League has previously set a precedent for red cards in similar cases. Fabian Schar’s red card in Newcastle United’s clash with Southampton back in 2024 saw the Swiss international given his marching orders for much less.

Ben Brereton Diaz made a meal of that one, which is perhaps why Gabriel stayed on the pitch. Erling Haaland simply walked away. Had the Norwegian feigned some dramatics, there may have been a different outcome. They’re either both yellow cards, or red. The Premier League has to sort out these glaring inconsistencies.

The incident probably doesn’t warrant any retrospective action.

Kieran King

For me, I’m struggling to see how Gabriel hasn’t been SENT OFF for the incident. As Gary Neville said post-match, players can go head-to-head but once you make that forward push movement, it’s a red card offence.

It’s clear that Gabriel moves his head in Erling Haaland’s direction and I strongly believe that if the Manchester City forward goes down in a heap, VAR and referee Anthony Taylor choose to brandish the red card.

But he didn’t and Gabriel stayed on the pitch and avoided a potential three-match suspension, which could prove pivotal in the Premier League title race. While there could be retrospective action facing the Arsenal defender, I don’t think the FA will ban him and disagree with Taylor and VAR’s initial call.