Nick Woltemade says he was in no mood for Gabriel’s apology after the Arsenal star clashed with the Newcastle United striker.
Woltemade scored his second Premier League goal of the season as Newcastle United lost 2-1 to Arsenal on Sunday.
The German nodded in Sandro Tonali’s cross to give Eddie Howe’s side the lead but late goals from Mikel Merino and Gabriel condemned the Magpies to another defeat.
The latest edition of Newcastle United vs Arsenal was typically eventful.
The Gunners saw a penalty overturned by VAR after Nick Pope looked to have brought down Viktor Gyokeres, while Newcastle were denied one when Anthony Elanga’s cross was deflected onto Gabriel’s hand.
Woltemade clashed with Gabriel, too, and the striker was unhappy with it.
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Nick Woltemade says he didn’t like what Gabriel did to him during Newcastle United vs Arsenal
The Brazilian looked to have swung his arm into Woltemade’s face off the ball.
He, however, escaped any severe punishment for that.
Speaking about the incident, Woltemade revealed that Gabriel had apologised to him.
However, the Newcastle forward was in no mood to shake hands after the incident as he did not like Gabriel’s action towards him.
“After the goal, there was a situation,” he told Sky Sports.
“I felt his elbow in my face. I’m two metres [tall], so his arm had to be really high.
“I said it to the referee. I felt something in my face and I think it’s not right to feel something in your face.
“I’m not the type of player who will fall down for this. It’s hard, because sometimes maybe you have to do it, but this is not my type of football, and I don’t like it. He said sorry after, so I think he knew that he hit me in my face.
When asked why he didn’t shake Gabriel’s hand, the forward added: “Because I don’t like this. If you do something in the game then 30 seconds after you say sorry, that’s not a part of the game.
“I don’t like it. We had some really good situations, and I like this situation where we can get a good battle but it always has to be fair. His elbow should be not in my face.”
Whether Gabriel should have been sent off for clash with Nick Woltemade
It would hardly have been all that controversial if Gabriel had been punished for that incident.
Fabian Schar, of course, was sent off for something similar during Newcastle United’s season-opener against Southampton way back in August 2024.
There is clear contact and Woltemade is right, simply apologising does not necessarily make up for it.
That’s not to suggest Arsenal didn’t deserve to win but they may have got lucky with that particular decision.
Still, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher suggested it might not have been a straight red card because Gabriel didn’t properly strike Woltemade.
“I think he’s lucky he doesn’t actually strike him properly,” he said.
“Where he’s got lucky is that the referee hasn’t seen it. It’s gone to VAR and VAR says red card or nothing. They’ve decided it’s not a red card.
“I don’t think it’s a red card. I think if the referee sees it, he’s certainly going to get a yellow card.”
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