Why Erling Haaland escaped punishment for Gabriel ball throw in Man City vs Arsenal drama
Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on the incident which saw Erling Haaland throw a ball at Gabriel Magalhaes’ head.
Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Haaland had opened the scoring for the home side before the Gunners responded with goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel before the interval.
City eventually managed to equalise in the eighth minute of stoppage time as Arsenal dropped two points in the final minute of the contest.
Tensions ran high after the equaliser from John Stones with almost the final kick of the game. After the ball found the back of the net, footage showed Haaland throwing the ball at the back of Gabriel’s head as he ran back towards the centre circle.
Referee Michael Oliver did not issue a yellow or red card to Haaland after deeming it was not an act of violent conduct. John Brooks was on VAR duty and agreed with Oliver, deciding that a red card for Haaland was not necessary.
As a result, the FA will not get involved or issue a punishment to Haaland for throwing the ball at Gabriel. And now Gallagher, a former Premier League referee, has weighed in on the controversial incident that saw Haaland escape punishment.
“Running the risk of another melee, aren’t you, because this is what happens afterwards,” said Gallagher on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch segment. “It’s just pulled back to 2-2, tempers are high.
“It was a really tough game to referee there’s no doubt about that. He [Oliver] had his hands full from the first minute and that’s how it culminated.”
Arsenal were forced to play the entire second half of the game against City with 10 players after Leandro Trossard was sent off. Trossard will now miss next weekend’s clash against Leicester City this Saturday in their return to Premier League action after facing Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
