Gabriel Cleared After Panel Backs Officials in Martinez Clash
Gabriel cleared as panel backs officials over Martinez head clash
Five minutes into a snarling London derby, the game stopped breathing.
A loose ball skidded across the Arsenal penalty area, bodies flew to the turf, and as Emiliano Martinez dived to claim it, Gabriel’s boot came arcing through the chaos and crashed into the goalkeeper’s head. Martinez stayed down, needing immediate treatment. Chelsea players sprinted towards referee Chris Kavanagh, arms outstretched, demanding a red card.
They never got it.
Kavanagh, his view blocked by a crowd of players in a frantic six-yard box, kept his card in his pocket. VAR took a long look but did not send him to the monitor. The match rumbled on, Arsenal recovered, and Chelsea’s sense of injustice simmered.
Now the Premier League’s Key Match Incident Panel has had its say – and it has come down firmly on the side of the officials.
Panel backs Gabriel
The five-strong KMI panel unanimously ruled that Gabriel should not have been sent off for violent conduct in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on September 6, backing both Kavanagh’s on-field decision and the VAR team’s intervention, or lack of it.
Their reasoning hinged on the sheer congestion in the box at the moment of impact.
“The panel unanimously supported the referee's call of no red card,” the group confirmed via the Premier League’s official channels. They highlighted that multiple players were on the ground, all throwing themselves at a loose ball, and decided Gabriel’s high boot did not amount to violent conduct or serious foul play.
In their eyes, it was an ugly collision born of desperation, not malice.
The verdict also preserves a notable line on Gabriel’s record. Across 265 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Lille in 2020, the Brazilian centre-back has still never received a straight red card. His only two dismissals have come via second yellow cards, part of a tally of 32 bookings in red and white.
Pundits furious with decision
The panel may be satisfied. Wayne Rooney is not.
The former Manchester United captain, speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, was scathing once the replays rolled and the incident slowed down frame by frame.
“You don’t really see it at first sight but then when you see a replay and they slow it down,” Rooney said, “Martinez has got the ball in his hands and Gabriel boots him in the head, he swings a leg and goes way over the top. He’s extremely lucky to stay on the pitch.”
From Rooney’s vantage point, this wasn’t just a coming-together in a crowded area. It was a reckless swing that should have carried serious consequences.
Ashley Young, sitting alongside him in the studio, echoed that disbelief and turned his fire on the VAR process itself.
“I agree. When the ball is on the floor and Martinez has it, Gabriel kicks so high. I’m not sure why it hasn’t gone to VAR or if they’ve properly studied it because he’s nowhere near the ball. He’s got away with one there,” Young said.
On the touchline and in the stands, the flashpoint faded into the background as the game unfolded. In the studio and in living rooms, it became the talking point of the night.
Arsenal rally, Chelsea unravel again
The reprieve proved priceless for Mikel Arteta’s side.
They had already been stunned inside two minutes when £117m signing Morgan Rogers silenced the Emirates, punishing slack defending to put Chelsea in front and briefly tilt the afternoon towards Xabi Alonso’s team.
Arsenal absorbed the shock. They then turned the screw.
Kai Havertz, facing his former club, dragged the hosts level and shifted the mood entirely. Once Martin Odegaard slipped home a composed finish early in the second half, the champions looked like themselves again, controlling the tempo and protecting their advantage with the authority of a team that expects to win.
Four games. Four wins. Title defence running smoothly.
For Chelsea, the pattern is far less flattering. However much money they spend, however much attacking flair they try to add, the same flaw keeps dragging them back.
Alonso’s side have now gone 20 straight Premier League matches without a clean sheet. Twenty. For a club of Chelsea’s resources and ambition, that is not just an inconvenient statistic; it is a damning one.
They can rage about Gabriel’s high boot and the panel’s verdict all they like. Until they fix the leaks at the back, nights like this will keep slipping away.
