Nick Woltemade has opened up on an altercation with Arsenal defender Gabriel, in which he was seemingly elbowed in the face, during Newcastle’s crushing late defeat to the Gunners at St. James’ Park.
Gabriel netted a dramatic 96th-minute winner to complete an incredible comeback for the Gunners, after Woltemade had opened the scoring in the first half against the run of play.
The 23-year-old towered over the centre-back, whom he had an intense battle with throughout the game, to head home emphatically in the 34th minute after what had been a dominant Gunners start.
Gabriel and several Arsenal players were incensed that the goal had not been disallowed, with the defender going to ground softly after feeling Woltemade’s hands on his back as he went to head the ball.
His complaints came to nothing, and the goal was given, but this was to be the start of a battle that would boil over just minutes later.
Straight from kick-off, Woltemade hunted the ball down as he looked to ride the momentum his opener had just created. However, as he led the press, Gabriel appeared to charge toward the striker and elbow him in the face.
Gabriel appeared to elbow Nick Woltemade in the face during Arsenal’s win over Newcastle
The incident came minutes after Woltemade towered over Gabriel to open the scoring
The German striker stood tall despite the ferocity of the challenge from Gabriel, who escaped punishment. However, speaking to Sky Sports, he made it clear that he doesn’t believe such challenges belong in the game.
He said: ‘After the goal, there was a situation where I felt his elbow in my face at two metres, so his arm had to be really high.
‘I just said it to the referee that I felt something in the face, and I think it’s not right to feel something in the face, but I’m not the type of player to fall down for this. It’s hard because sometimes maybe you have to do this, but this is not my type of football.’
Following the apparent elbow, Woltemade made sure to confront Gabriel, and the two squared off before referee Jarred Gillett came over to calm things down.
After a brief chat, Gabriel offered his apologies to the striker and stretched out his hand to offer a handshake. But Woltemade stood firm and did not shake the defender’s hand, instead walking away.
Woltemade continued: ‘He said sorry after, so I think he knew he hit me in my face. I didn’t solve the situation to be honest. I don’t like this.
‘If you do some things in-game and then a few seconds later you say sorry, that’s not part of the game. I like the situation where you can have a good battle, but it always has to be fair. His elbow should not be in my face.’
Ultimately, Arsenal benefitted from Woltemade’s decision not to go down after the incident, with Gabriel staying on the pitch and scoring the winner.
Gabriel and Woltemade were involved in an intense battle all game which he enjoyed in moments
The Brazilian wasn’t punished for the apparent elbow and went onto score a 96th-minute winner
The last-gasp header meant that the Gunners pounced on Liverpool’s slip-up and closed the gap at the top to just two points.
Meanwhile, it was the second time this season that the Magpies suffered heartbreak right at the death, with Liverpool also netting a stoppage-time winner at St. James’ Park last month.
Woltemade admitted that while losing in that fashion ‘doesn’t feel good’, Newcastle can learn a lot from the defeat.
‘If you get two real late goals, it doesn’t feel good if you’re 90 minutes 1-0 in front,’ he added. ‘Yeah, just doesn’t feel good. I think in the second half, we didn’t get the pressure away from our goal. We were just defending.
‘Sometimes we have to take more situations where we can breathe, where we also play with the ball and get some situations where we can get out of pressure and get the ball in the Arsenal side.
‘We have to learn about it because if you defend for 45 or 52 minutes in the second half and don’t get any chances and then they get two goals by corners, so don’t feel good.’
