Newcastle furious after an elbow that benefited Arsenal

Nick Woltemade, Newcastle's rookie striker, insisted he is “not the type of player to dive in order to get an opponent sent off” following a controversial clash with Gabriel in the 1-2 defeat to Arsenal.

The incident occurred right after Woltemade scored the opening goal in the 34th minute with a powerful header, unexpectedly breaking Arsenal’s dominant momentum. As play resumed from the halfway line, defender Gabriel, believing he was fouled in the previous challenge, swung his arm and struck the German forward in the face.

Woltemade reacted strongly, pulling the opponent’s shorts and pointing directly at Gabriel to complain. However, VAR did not intervene, and referee Jarred Gillett decided there was no need to review the incident on the screen.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the 23-year-old forward clarified his stance: “After scoring, I clearly felt his elbow hit my face. I’m 2 meters tall, so his arm had to be very high to reach my face. I told the referee I was hit and I believe that was unfair. I am not the kind of player who falls to gain an advantage. Sometimes you might have to, but that’s not my style of football.”

Although Gabriel later apologized voluntarily, Woltemade refused to shake hands. He explained: “He said sorry right after, showing he knew he hit my face. But I don’t like that kind of approach. Doing something in the game and apologizing seconds later is not part of football. I prefer tough challenges but they must be fair. His elbow shouldn’t have been on my face.”

Notably, Woltemade’s decision not to go down helped Gabriel avoid a card and continue playing. The Brazilian defender later scored the decisive goal in the 90+6th minute, completing a remarkable comeback for Arsenal and reducing the gap with Liverpool to just 2 points. For Newcastle, this defeat was even more painful as it was the second time this season they lost at St. James’ Park due to a last-minute goal, following the match against Liverpool last month.

The German striker was substituted in the 67th minute and has yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Newcastle since joining the club. He and his teammates must quickly move past this disappointment to prepare for their upcoming Champions League match against Union Saint-Gilloise midweek, after suffering a defeat to Barcelona in the opening round.