Paul Merson makes Gabriel claim that will annoy Arsenal fans after North London Derby triumph

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes that Mikel Arteta’s side got lucky in one moment against Tottenham Hotspur. 

Arsenal were able to secure a 1-0 win in the North London Derby on Sunday. 

Gabriel Magalhaes’ second half header was enough to earn victory for Mikel Arteta’s team. 

Both sides had their chances in what was a fast-paced and at times end-to-end encounter. However, Arsenal were resilient at the back, with Gabriel producing a magnificent performance, his goal aside, and William Saliba and David Raya turning in equally impressive displays. 

Gabriel’s goal came in the 64th minute, as he met Bukayo Saka’s corner and crashed a header home from inside the six-yard box.

However, Paul Merson has since questioned if the goal ought to have stood at all. 

• READ MORE: Every player to play for north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal icon Paul Merson questions Gabriel strike vs Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero had been tasked with marking Gabriel, but the Arsenal man was able to give the Argentine the slip, and found himself in space by the time Saka’s cross arrived. 

However, replays showed that a slight shove into the back of Romero aided Gabriel in creating and finding this space for himself.

Reviewing the incident on Sky Sports (15/09/2024, 16:10), Merson admitted that he felt that the referee should have awarded a free kick in favour of Tottenham, due to Gabriel’s push on Romero, rather than a goal for the Gunners. 

The pundit said: “I would be disappointed if I didn’t get a foul.”

Whilst Merson did concede that Romero made mistakes of his own: “Romero is in the wrong position, everything is wrong about his defending. You have to be side on, seeing the ball and the player.”

He still insisted: “But I would expect a foul.”

Were Arsenal lucky to be given goal against Spurs?

Whilst such fouls have been given in the past, it was a relatively mild push in the context of the contact and jostling that takes place in the penalty area during any set-piece situation as standard.

Arteta would have felt aggrieved had the effort been chalked off, and he would have had good reason to feel hard done by too. 

However, had the referee decided to rule out the goal for the offence, VAR would almost certainly not have overturned his decision in favour of awarding the goal.

Gabriel certainly skirted close to the line, but to Arsenal fans’ delight he got away with it.