Arsenal defender narrowly avoids a red card after punching an opponent in the face

Nick Woltemade voiced his anger after Gabriel elbowed him straight in the face, affirming that he does not fake falls despite Newcastle’s comeback defeat to Arsenal.

Newcastle endured a bitter match at St. James' Park, conceding a 2-1 comeback defeat to Arsenal with Gabriel’s decisive goal in the 96th minute. A notable moment was when Arsenal’s defender elbowed Nick Woltemade in the face but escaped a red card. Woltemade was upset about Gabriel’s direct elbow, emphasizing he did not dive despite heavy pressure in Newcastle’s loss.

Woltemade, nearly 2 meters tall, opened the scoring for Newcastle in the 34th minute with a header after Arsenal had dominated early on. This play triggered reactions from Gabriel and several Arsenal players who claimed Woltemade pushed the defender with his hand, but the referee allowed the goal. Shortly after, as Newcastle increased their pressing intensity, Gabriel confronted Woltemade and struck him in the face with an elbow. Despite this, Gabriel was not penalized, and Woltemade remained standing.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Woltemade emphasized: "After scoring, there was an incident where I felt his elbow hit my face. I’m almost 2 meters tall, yet his arm still reached me, meaning he swung his arm very high. I told the referee I was hit in the face, and I believe that’s against the rules. But I’m not the type to dive. Sometimes it might be necessary, but that’s not how I play football."

The Newcastle forward continued: "After that, I confronted Gabriel directly. The referee had to step in to calm things down. Gabriel later apologized and extended his hand, but I refused and turned away. He apologized, which means he knew he hit my face. I didn’t like that situation. If someone does something on the pitch and then apologizes seconds later, I don’t think that’s right. I enjoy one-on-one battles, but they must be fair. His elbow should never have ‘appeared’ on my face."

Along with expressing his frustration, Woltemade also took a realistic view of the defeat: "Leading 1-0 for the whole 90 minutes then losing in a comeback feels really bad. In the second half, we couldn’t relieve the pressure and were mostly defending. Sometimes we need breaks, hold the ball more to escape pressing and move it into Arsenal’s half. We have to learn because if you defend for 45 or 52 minutes straight without chances, conceding from set pieces is almost unavoidable."

The injury-time header helped Arsenal capitalize on Liverpool’s slip to reduce the gap at the top to just 2 points. This was also Newcastle’s second painful last-minute defeat this season after Liverpool scored a decisive goal at St. James' Park.