Gabriel Magalhães appeared to be pulling Erling Haaland’s hair during Manchester City’s win over Arsenal. Footage of the encounter between the two sides appeared to show the Brazil international grabbing his opponent’s man bun as he climbed on top of the City striker after competing for a header.
Gabriel placed his left hand on Haaland’s shoulder during the jump, maintaining a grip before the pair began to lose their footing. As Haaland fell to his right, the defender’s hand slipped from the Norwegian’s shoulder and appeared to grab his rival’s hair, and the extra contact dragged Haaland down, causing his bun to fall apart.
The incident is very similar to when Lisandro Martinez was shown a red card against Leeds United for conduct comparable to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the defeat at Old Trafford. Referee Paul Tierney dismissed the United defender following a video assistant referee review by John Brooks. United were furious at the decision, but Martinez’s appeal against his red card was unsuccessful.
Gabriel, on the other hand, fled without making any reservations. Brentford’s Dango Ouattara also appears to have pulled Calvin Bassey’s hair during a match last weekend when he challenged a Fulham player.
Ouattara shoved the Nigeria international with his left forearm, then raised his hand towards Bassey’s braids and appeared to make contact. Despite this, the other party did not file any complaints after the incident.
Dermot Gallagher has backed Brentford’s decision not to sack the forward. The former Premier League referee told Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch: ‘Keep playing, there’s no conclusive evidence that he did it.
He also spoke more generally about pulling out his hair following a series of recent incidents. Gallagher said: “This should qualify as assault, but it’s a very personal offence, isn’t it? But let’s be clear: in that situation, there is no conclusive evidence that Dango pulled the hair, so I don’t want the referee to potentially give him a red card.”
Jay Bothroyd compared him to Martinez. “He touched his hair. I don’t think he did it intentionally, that’s for sure. I think it falls into Martinez’s category. I don’t think Martinez intentionally pulled his hair,” the former player turned pundit said. I don’t think it was tense. I think there was some contact with his hair. I think Calvert-Lewin said, ‘I felt it,’ but I don’t think it was intentional.”
Bothroyd added: “I don’t think Martinez pulled the player’s hair. I just think his hand got tangled in his hair.”
