Don’t Care! Gabriel issues brutal response to time-wasting accusations

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes has responded to claims made by Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, accusing the Gunners of deliberately wasting time during their match.

Mikel Arteta’s team secured an hard-fought 1-0 victory over Brighton on Wednesday night, with Bukayo Saka scoring the decisive goal. However, Albion head coach was not pleased with Arsenal’s tactics during the game.

He criticised how long the Gunners take to restart play from both throw-ins and corners during his pre-match press conference and he did not hold back after the game either, stating: “Only one team tried to play football.”

Hurzeler also accused Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya of going to ground frequently in order to run down the clock.

Gabriel Magalhaes heads a chip from Carlos Baleba of Brighton and Hove Albion during their match. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

But Arsenal centre-back isn’t bothered, telling ESPN Brasil: “We don’t really care about what he says. That is for the referee to decide on the pitch. If he wants to give a yellow card or not, he decides the time we take. We just have to do things the way we are doing and keep going.”

Manchester City were stunned by Nottingham Forest as both teams played out a 2-2 draw at the Etihad. Despite sharing his delight on this, Gabriel insists Mikel Arteta’s table-toppers must continue to focus on themselves after going seven clear at the summit.

He continued: “We have to concentrate on ourselves and keep going the way we are. Now it’s three wins in a row, and of course we have to keep winning. That’s the most important thing.”

Arsenal will now continue their quest for multiple silverware as they head to Mansfield in the FA Cup fifth round before travelling to Germany to square off against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last the

The Gunners can also move 10 points clear of Manchester City next Saturday if they beat Everton before Manchester City travel to West Ham.