“Stupid, immature and petulant” - Rio Ferdinand slams Gabriel for committing ‘silly foul’ that led to sending off in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Man City

Former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand has slammed Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes for committing a 'silly foul' against Manchester City on Saturday.

The Gunners led in the match on the stroke of half-time thanks to a beautiful strike from England international Bukayo Saka. However, Riyad Mahrez converted a penalty to equalize for Manchester City in the second half after Bernardo Silva was fouled by Granit Xhaka.

Gabriel was later sent off. The Brazilian was booked earlier for tampering with the penalty spot. He got his second yellow card for his rash challenge on Gabriel Jesus in the middle of the pitch, minutes after he was booked.

This saw Arsenal come down to just 10-men against Pep Guardiola's ruthless pressing. Rodri scored an injury-time goal in the second half to win all three points for City.

Ferdinand blasted Gabriel for messing up the penalty spot and then for the needless rash challenge on Jesus which saw the Brazilian getting sent off.

He said:

“This is stupid, this is immature, this is petulant. Penalty against your team - what do you think you’re achieving by that? From that point on, the stupidity enhances itself.''

He then added:

''He’s not a threat, he’s in the middle of the pitch and straight away after that incident you commit a silly foul like that. And then he’s in disbelief. I don’t understand it. In what world is there disbelief?”

Ferdinand said that Gabriel's attitude in the game today could be because of his inexperience. He said Gabriel should learn from other centre-backs to control his emotions and Arsenal should talk to him regarding that. He added:

“You’ve got to take emotions out of it. When you’re in the heat of battle, you won’t see Dias doing that. You won’t see a Virgil van Dijk do that - they calm the others around them. That’s what leaders do. He is the total opposite of that. Maybe it’s inexperience, but it’s something that the people behind the scenes at Arsenal really need to get a hold off.”

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Rio Ferdinand slams 'inconsistent VAR' after controversial decision in Arsenal-Manchester City match

Rio Ferdinand went furious against the Video Assistant Referee's (VAR) inconsistent. He said that the newly introduced technology 'frustrates' him after a dubious penalty decision went in Manchester City's favor against Arsenal.

Martin Odegaard was thought to have been caught inside the Manchester City box in the first half by City goalkeeper Ederson. The Emirates went crazy asking for a penalty but the VAR couldn't spot anything and the game went on.

However, Manchester City equalized through a penalty in the second half thanks to a VAR decision. This inconsistency was what frustrated Rio Ferdinand as it has many fans, players and pundits alike.