Arsenal star fumes on social media after being denied penalty in dying moments of Newcastle United clash
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes took to Twitter to make clear his feelings over the Gunners being denied a late penalty in their goalless draw with Newcastle United.
Mikel Arteta's side settled for a share of the spoils against the Magpies on Tuesday night (January 3). However, they were left outraged when Gabriel appeared to be thrown to the ground by Dan Burn in Newcastle's penalty box in the dying embers of the game.
Manager Mikel Arteta was seen ranting and raving on the touchline before clashing with Magpies boss Eddie Howe over the incident. Gabriel has since posted a video of the incident on Twitter with a telling emoticon caption:
🤦🏽♂️ https://t.co/RJfKfjuobA
Arsenal could have moved ten points clear of second-placed Manchester City with a win over Newcastle. However, they still boast an eight-point lead over Pep Guardiola's side, who face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday (January 5).
Arteta claimed after the game that his side were denied two scandalous penalties after the draw. Another incident came when Jacob Murphy appeared to handle in the box just moments after Burn pulled Gabriel back during a free-kick.
The Arsenal manager said:
"There were two penalties. It's very simple. I'm talking about what I've seen. It was two scandalous penalties."
Arsenal have 44 points from 17 games.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand compares Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard to Mozart
Ferdinand has lavished praise on Odegaard, with the Norweigan midfielder continuing to impress for the Gunners this season.
The 24-year-old has featured 22 times across competitions, scoring seven goals and providing five assists. He has been instrumental in the Gunners' pursuit of their first Premier League title since 2004.
Ferdinand compared Odegaard to Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his praise of the midfielder. He said (via Metro):
"When you look through the team, they just look solid, but Odegaard needs a special mention. This guy! I said when he got given the armband it will go one of two ways."
Ferdinand continued:
"This guy is playing like Mozart at the moment. He’s rolling the ball through people’s legs. He looks like a reincarnation of Mesut Ozil at his best."
The former United captain reckons the Norweigan is growing into his captaincy role at the Emirates:
"I’ve been looking at him thinking, 'wow, this kid'. You can tell he seems comfortable in his skin, and he’s growing into the Arsenal captain’s role really well."
This Odegaard assist 🤩 https://t.co/4GeKd7rn9n
The league leaders next face Oxford United in the third round of the FA Cup on Monday (January 9). They then take on Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium six days later.