Troy Deeney thinks one Arsenal player got away with a big call during the Gunners’ win over Newcastle United.
Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Newcastle epitomised a Premier League thriller, with drama coming from all angles.
In the first half, Gabriel Magalhaes played with fire as he acted improperly towards Nick Woltemade, but that’s not the only instance in which the Arsenal defender risked it all.
Immediately after Mikel Merino netted Arsenal’s equaliser, Gabriel appeared to handle the ball in the box, prompting VAR to check for a potential penalty for Newcastle.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty ImagesTroy Deeney says Newcastle should’ve had a penalty against Arsenal
The decision was cleared, and Gabriel went on to get the last laugh, scoring the winner deep into injury time.
While the Brazilian escaped conceding a late penalty, he didn’t escape the spotlight, as Troy Deeney spoke about the penalty decision when analysing the game.
First, the talkSPORT pundit insisted that Viktor Gyokeres’ overturned penalty decision was incorrect.
“The penalty for me is a penalty. I don’t care whether Pope’s got a little touch on that. His knee then stops him from getting on to which he probably would have rolled into an empty net. So for me, that was a penalty.”
Deeney then diverted his attention to Gabriel, saying that, in his opinion, the centre-back ‘got away with one’.
“I also think Gabriel got away with one as well. That one with a hand in the air. I know it touched his leg, but that hand’s very, very high in the air with the new rules.”
Gabriel might’ve held his breath for a moment as VAR checked for a potential handball, but the passage of play was fortunately cleared.
Premier League statement on Gabriel’s handball vs Newcastle
After referee Jarred Gillett confirmed that Gabriel’s handball had been cleared, the Premier League commented on the incident.
On X, the official Premier League Match Centre account issued the following statement about the decision not to award a penalty.
#NEWARS – 85’
The referee’s call of no penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the ball deemed to have deflected off Gabriel’s shin and onto his arm.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) September 28, 2025
View Tweet
“The referee’s call of no penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the ball deemed to have deflected off Gabriel’s shin and onto his arm.”
As Gabriel handled the ball from his own action, the offence was not deemed to be punishable with a penalty, to the relief of the Arsenal bench.
It was an eventful game to say the least for Gabriel, who walked away the match winner and the man of the match.