Nick Woltemade Slams Gabriel's Conduct Following Arsenal Defeat: "It's Not Right"

Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade has claimed that Arsenal defender Gabriel struck him with an elbow to the face during Sunday's heated match, pointing to the Brazilian's immediate apology on the field as evidence of wrongdoing in what he described as an unacceptable incident.

The two tall players became central figures in a tense 2-1 victory for the away side. Woltemade put Newcastle ahead in the first half against the flow of the game, rising above Gabriel to head home from a corner kick, before Arsenal staged a late fightback. Mikel Merino equalized for the Gunners in the 84th minute, while Gabriel himself rose to score a dramatic injury-time winner beyond Nick Pope.

Nevertheless, Woltemade raised doubts about whether Gabriel should have remained on the field at that point.

"Following the goal there was an incident where I felt his elbow strike my face. I'm two metres tall, so his arm had to be positioned very high," the German striker told Sky Sports with frustration. "I'm not sure, I simply mentioned it to the referee that I felt contact to my face and I believe it's wrong to experience that kind of contact to the face."

The two players had an altercation right after the restart following Woltemade's opening goal. Gabriel had protested for a non-existent foul which the referee correctly dismissed and, possibly feeling aggrieved by an overturned Arsenal penalty decision earlier in the half, the defender vented his anger on Woltemade.

Gabriel's Eventful Afternoon

In an odd turn of VAR's unpredictable nature, the officials at Stockley Park chose not to intervene regarding this potential sending-off incident. Woltemade speculated whether the outcome might have been different if he had exaggerated the contact.

"However, I'm not the kind of player who goes down easily for that," he lamented. "It's difficult because sometimes perhaps you need to do that, but that's not my style of play."

"He [Gabriel] apologized afterwards, so I believe he was aware he caught me in the face," Woltemade added. "It didn't resolve the situation to be frank.

"I dislike this approach, when you commit certain acts during the game and then moments later you apologize, that's not how the game should be played. I appreciate situations where you can engage in good physical battles, but his elbow shouldn't be making contact with my face."

Gabriel enjoys the combative aspects of the game, especially against Newcastle strikers it seems. Former Magpies forward Callum Wilson has spoken about how facing the physical Brazilian "is just like warfare." "He wants to battle me, I want to battle him," the Englishman remarked. Woltemade clearly believed the confrontation crossed the line this weekend.