“The referee just waved it on” – Tim Sherwood hits out at Arsenal man for his antics against West Ham

Arsenal center-back Gabriel Magalhães has come under scrutiny from former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tim Sherwood.

Arsenal ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against David Moyes’ West Ham United after Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring in the 48th minute. Arsenal won a penalty in the 68th minute when Alexandre Lacazette was fouled by Vladimir Coufal. The Hammers full-back was sent off after receiving a second yellow card as the French striker went on to miss the penalty.

Gabriel Magalhaes seemingly got away with an elbow on Pablo Fornals which Tim Sherwood thought should have been a penalty. The former England manager was of the opinion that the only reason it was not awarded was that West Ham players did not make too much of a fuss:

"We have seen another elbow in the face. That looked more of an elbow from Gabriel. It was on Fornals and the referee just waved it on. Hopefully, VAR will look at that. West Ham players have not made a fuss like the Arsenal players did and that’s the reason he gets away with that."

Arsenal register back-to-back wins after slump in form

Despite the controversy, Arsenal fans will be relieved with the overall result. They had a lion-share of the ball for much of the game and missed multiple big chances in the first half. The Gunners were better in the second half and could easily have won the game by a margin of three to four goals.

Apart from Lacazette missing a penalty, Kieran Tierney’s thunderous strike was also tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabiański. Regardless, the Gunners managed to win comfortably in the end as Emile Smith-Rowe added a late second. The result is extra sweet for Arsenal considering their recent poor run of form.

The recent loss to Everton was their third in four Premier League games. During this run, Mikel Arteta’s team conceded nine goals and were also dealing with the recent controversy involving Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang.

Regardless, back-to-back victories hold them in good stead and leave them in fourth in the table, a single point above West Ham United.

Additionally, the fact that the team were able to register a clean sheet will also give them a huge boost ahead of an easier set of fixtures. Arsenal have three easier domestic matches along with an EFL Cup tie against Sunderland to play in the next couple of weeks. The Gunners will host Manchester City on New Year’s day.