Newcastle Striker Woltemade Criticizes Arsenal's Gabriel Over On-Field Elbow Incident

During Newcastle United's recent 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal, striker Nick Woltemade opened the scoring but was involved in a tense altercation with Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes. After Woltemade's goal, Gabriel appeared to elbow him in the face during a physical confrontation, an incident that went unpunished by the referee but sparked a heated exchange between the two players. Woltemade expressed his disapproval of the challenge, emphasizing his commitment to fair play and stating he is not the type to fall down or engage in theatrics. Although Gabriel apologized shortly after, Woltemade rejected the apology, feeling such actions followed by quick apologies are not part of the game's spirit. The incident highlighted the intensity of the match, with both players battling fiercely, and Newcastle aiming to recover and close the gap in the Premier League standings. Newcastle legend Les Ferdinand commented that had Woltemade gone down, the elbow might have resulted in a sending off upon review, underscoring the seriousness of the challenge.