(Credit: Imago / Peacock TV)

Ben Palmer

Tue 1 April 2025 21:42, UK

Arsenal’s “crazy” reaction after Gabriel Magalhaes went down injured against Fulham left one completely pundit stunned.

Whilst news of Bukayo Saka’s return to the Arsenal matchday squad dominated headlines pre-match, there will now be major concerns after Gabriel suffered an injury against the Whites.

The Gunners have two league matches this week, against Fulham and Everton, before they face off against Real Madrid in the Champions League next Tuesday (8 April).

Barring an inconceivable collapse, Liverpool seem destined to win the Premier League title, leaving UEFA’s premier competition as Arsenal’s last chance of silverware this season, despite Saka scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Cottagers.

However, they will likely have to play against the competition’s most successful team without their star centre-back.

Arsenal risk exacerbating Gabriel injury by playing on against Fulham

Having chased down Adama Traore to stop a Fulham counter-attack, Gabriel then went down to the ground, clutching his hamstring and waving for his teammates to put the ball out of play.

Instead, hungry for a goal that would give them the lead, Arsenal pressed forward trying to make a chance from a counter of their own.

Then, having lost the ball back to Fulham, the Gunners began waving for the ball to be put out of play, and having chosen not to do it for their own teammate, the Whites had little motivation to cede the opportunity to score in favour of stopping play.

Commentating on Peacock, former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie was left exasperated at the response from the Arsenal players, saying (7.58pm): “It’s crazy isn’t it, Arsenal had the opportunity to put the ball out but they wanted to attack, as you’d expect.

“He’s asking John Brooks why he hasn’t blew the whistle, it’s not a head injury is it?

“He’s obviously gone down and he’s asking his teammates to put the ball down isn’t he, put the ball out of play.

“He’s just gone on a sprint and just pulled up as he’s chasing back Raul Jimenez back, that doesn’t look good at all for Arsenal, and Gabriel, even worse if he’s continued one and that is a hamstring [injury], you just hope he hasn’t made it any worse.

“It’s going to be a bitter blow for Arsenal, let’s hope it’s not as bad as what it looks like, you can tell by the reaction of Gabriel it isn’t good at all.”

Arsenal injury crisis leaves Mikel Arteta short at the back ahead of Real Madrid match

Football Insider Verdict

A good starting XI wins you games, but squad depth wins you titles, as demonstrated by Man City in recent seasons.

Drawing Real Madrid in the last-eight of the Champions League was always going to be a tough proposition for Arsenal to deal with.

However, without Al-Nasser transfer target Gabriel, it is hard to see how the Gunners will deal with the world-class trio of Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo.

With Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori also out injured, the Brazilian’s replacement against Fulham, Jakub Kiwior, is likely to be the man pairing William Saliba at the heart of Arsenal’s defence.

Whilst a capable defender in his own right, the Polish defender has been incapable of nailing down a starting spot during his career at the Emirates, and Real Madrid‘s front-line will be emboldened to know they will be going up against Kiwior, rather than Gabriel.