Gabriel Magalhães kicked Emiliano Martínez in the head during Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea and completed the incident without receiving a card.
The collision occurred early in Sunday’s match at the Emirates Stadium, shortly after Morgan Rogers had given Chelsea the lead inside 77 seconds.
Martínez threw himself towards a loose ball inside the six-yard box and appeared to secure it with both hands. Gabriel attempted to reach the same ball with his boot, missed it and instead caught the Chelsea goalkeeper in the face.
Martínez remained on the ground requiring treatment, while referee Chris Kavanagh issued no punishment. VAR examined the incident but did not recommend an on-field review for serious foul play.
The contact itself was not particularly difficult to establish. The remaining task was deciding whether a defender kicking a goalkeeper in the head should have any consequences.
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey supported the decision, explaining that Gabriel had a right to challenge for the ball and that several players were already lying on the ground during the scramble.
The presence of sufficient surrounding chaos therefore appeared to make the height of Gabriel’s boot less important.
Wayne Rooney reached a different conclusion on Match of the Day, describing the Arsenal defender as “extremely lucky” to remain on the pitch. Ashley Young agreed, pointing out that Martínez had possession and Gabriel was nowhere near the ball when contact was made.
Martínez recovered and continued playing, although Arsenal eventually equalised through Kai Havertz before Martin Ødegaard completed the comeback shortly after half-time.
Gabriel also remained involved and later forced an excellent save from the goalkeeper he had recently kicked.
There was no suggestion that Gabriel deliberately targeted Martínez. Officials instead had to determine whether his attempt to play the ball was reckless or used excessive force.
VAR decided that it did not meet the threshold for intervention, leaving Arsenal with 11 players and Martínez with the unusual responsibility of demonstrating that being kicked in the head had genuinely occurred.
Gabriel did not win the ball and did not receive a card. Martínez at least succeeded in stopping the shot, although largely with a part of his body goalkeepers are discouraged from using.
