Arsenal: Can Gabriel be retrospectively banned for headbutt on Erling Haaland? | OneFootball

Defender escaped being sent off against Man City - but is he out of the woods yet?

Arsenal defender Gabriel avoided a straight red card against Manchester City on Sunday in a potentially decisive referee decision in the Premier League title race.

Gabriel and Haaland have clashed previously, including when the striker bounced a football off the defender's head when celebrating a goal, but on Sunday it turned more vicious.

The pair had tangled earlier in the game as tensions rose, but Haaland got the upper hand when muscling Gabriel to score what proved to be the winning goal.

Gabriel vs Erling Haaland

PA

Shortly afterwards, the pair faced off again, forehead to forehead, but this time Gabriel moved to headbutt his opponent, who remained unmoved.

A headbutt is typically considered violent conduct, which results in a straight red card and an automatic three-game ban.

However, referee Anthony Taylor instead showed both players a yellow card, and VAR did not intervene to suggest upgrading to a red for Gabriel.

The Premier League confirmed via a statement shortly afterwards that Gabriel's action was "deemed not to be excessively aggressive or violent", and VAR agreed.

Speaking afterwards, Haaland suggested that him not going down after the headbutt prevented Gabriel from being sent off.

But is Gabriel out of the woods yet?

Can Gabriel be retrospectively banned for Erling Haaland headbutt?

No. The Football Association (FA) can only retrospectively punish a player if an incident was missed by all on-field officials and VAR.

Because the incident was spotted by the match official, in addition to being reviewed by VAR, the on-field decision is final.

In short, the FA cannot re-referee a match.

There have been examples where a ban has been extended upon review. Aleksandar Mitrovic, then of Fulham, was sent off in 2023 for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh. His ban was then extended to eight games upon review.

That was considered an exceptional circumstance, a bar Gabriel's headbutt would not meet.