Gabriel punishment 'decided' after Erling Haaland 'headbutt' during Arsenal loss at Man City

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes received a yellow card for pushing his head into Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in a controversial moment during the Premier League meeting

Manchester City have moved within three points of Arsenal after the Gunners fell to defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. While the title race is at the forefront of everyone's minds, it did not stop Gabriel Magalhaes and Erling Haaland from becoming a central talking point.

The pair endured a ferocious battle with the Norwegian forward edging the victory after scoring the winning goal in Manchester. But their battle threatened to boil over as they came head-to-head, and Gabriel pushed into his opponent, earning a yellow card.

VAR vindicated Anthony Taylor's decision, but Haaland suggested following the match that the Brazilian may have received his marching orders if he'd chosen to go down. "I think if I fell on the floor, which I will not do unless someone really attacks me, it will maybe be a red card," he said.

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Despite the uproar from some pundits, there is no chance of the Football Association taking retrospective action. The body can only intervene when an indiscretion has not been seen by the on-field officials and VAR.

VAR decided the action was not "excessively aggressive or violent" to warrant more than a yellow card. football.london's writers have given their view on what should have transpired.

Jake Stokes

Gabriel Magalhaes should have definitely been sent off for the headbutt on Erling Haaland! It's absolutely mind-boggling that Anthony Taylor didn't show him a red card, and it's even more worrying that the Video Assistant Referee didn't pull the on-field referee up on his blunder.

It's almost as if Taylor was afraid to make such a decision! How on earth the Arsenal defender only walked away with a booking is beyond me. If the culprit played for any other team in the league then they would have been given their marching order, it's as simple as that – and history proves this.

A yellow card for going head-to-head is fine, but Gabriel crossed the line when he thrust his head forward, putting Haaland at risk of injury. It's the definition of violent conduct. There's no excuse for it.

The FA must take retrospective action against the Gunners defender otherwise they and the PGMOL will be setting a precedent that they can not – and almost certainly will not – be able to follow across the country.

Tom Canton

Yes, he should have gone, and I am baffled he didn't. Had he done so, it would have been a three-match ban and potentially ended the remaining title hopes that Arsenal have left.

But, maybe Anthony Taylor was levelling the playing field, having not sent off Abdukodir Khusanov for a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity on Kai Havertz earlier in the game.

Gabriel played the game too emotionally overall and let the rivalry between the sides overcome his performance. As a result, he made mistakes and also gave plenty of critics even more ammunition than he needed to for the post-match analysis.

Any suggestion of post-match ramifications, however, is a no-go after he was booked, meaning that the incident is included in the referee's report. Lucky boy.

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.

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.

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.

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.