With questionable penalty decisions, Gabriel avoiding a red card and our late winner at St James’ Park, it is easy to forget a bizarre moment in the first half when Calafiori was booed by the crowd and eventually warned not to use Nick Pope’s towel to dry the ball before a throw-in.
The Italian noticed the towel between the goal and the corner flag and thought, as everyone on the pitch is a grown adult, his opponents would not be so petty as to complain that the 23-year-old had taken something that was not his. Maybe he should have asked first.
Twenty-four hours earlier at Selhurst Park, before taking a throw-in that set up Crystal Palace’s winner against Liverpool, Jefferson Lerma was allowed to use a towel in stoppage time. Our defender was not allowed to do so in the first half on Sunday. Some say Calafiori was attempting to waste time, but it is worth stressing that it was goalless at the time and Arsenal were on top.
Some Gooners already think that one rule exists for the rest while the Gunners get treated differently. Of course, if officials really were corrupt and had an agenda to cost us the title, why not send Gabriel off for what many thought was an obvious red-card offence.
Towels and the Rules
I can confirm that towels not being used at St James’ Park this weekend, but at other grounds, is not part of a conspiracy to hurt us. The actual protocol is similar to the multi-ball system: both teams must agree before kick-off if they want access to towels on the sidelines. They would then be evenly distributed on both sides of the pitch.
Even if they had been, our player would still have been breaking protocol as you are not allowed to bring towels back from other areas, you are only meant to use what has been put out on your side. That is why any team coached by Sam Allardyce or Tony Pulis would have the ball boy or girl waiting with a towel in hand.
That the only towel visible on Sunday was the keeper’s suggests that Newcastle had not agreed or Arsenal forgot to ask. There is no protocol that every set of manager and captain must have that conversation before kick-off because it is quite trivial.
Calafiori is a professional and he clearly did not realise he was doing anything wrong because it seemed so harmless.
The Spirit of the Game
The referee was technically following the letter of the law but he would not have interjected had it not been pointed out to him. It just makes Newcastle look bad and is another example of the Magpies not being the club they were in the 1990s when they were everyone’s second team.
In his final year in North London, Arsène Wenger warned that a section of our fanbase was in danger of jeopardising the proud values Arsenal stood for. When Mikel Arteta returned to the Emirates, one of the first things he stressed was about having principles on and off the pitch and not tolerating anyone who does not meet that ethos.
Not all managers, owners or supporters care about that. I grew up with Kevin Keegan wanting to entertain the Geordies. Now Eddie Howe orders his squad to find every conceivable way to get under our skin and unsettle us.
Across the division, long throws seem to be popular. Maybe there is a sports scientist who will tell you the advantage of the ball not being dried properly. I accept that football is a multi-million-pound business with thousands on the line in matches. If you can get an advantage you are going to take it, but it is not a great look.
If I were part of the Toon Army I would want my team worrying about being better than us on the pitch, not telling tales because someone stole a towel. A bad weekend for Newcastle in many ways.
Dan Smith
__________________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
You’d think you actually won something by beating us at home. You still won’t win the league, or the CL, or anything else. We may have been everyones second team in the 90’s. But Arsenal will always be the second team in Premier League finishes, finals etc.
David McAllister,
Still bitter about Sunday I see. It makes me laugh when we’re accused of over celebrating. If you score a late winner, your entitled to celebrate it.
What did you expect the players to do, jog over to Gabriel and say jolly good show Gabs, now lets go and give a gentle hand clap in front of our adoring fans.
Instead of having a pop at my team, maybe you should take a closer look at your team. Especially the thug element that’s in your side. It’s called football, not the WWF. 🤦♂️
Ha ha, living rent free in your head as usual 🤫
What an absolute loser you must be to come here, to an article about a towel incident of all things, to disrespect a team who have surpassed every single achievement yours has ever made. Newcastle, along with Spurs, are by far the top flights biggest underachievers. Your club is so weak you spend all game fouling and time-wasting then you claim the opposition are instead doing it. Laughable mentality and clearly no idea of sportsmanship.
And we did win something by beating you; the match and three points. Don’t be so pathetic and classless in defeat.
We might win the league and/or CL, we also may not, nobody is making such arrogant and braindead comments here – what ever happens won’t be because you’re more clued up than anyone, you seem the total opposite. Besides, you and your lot can only dream of being second in anything. And ‘everyone’s second team in the 90s’? By what, winning nothing except one time nearly winning the league and totally buckling instead? Check our trophy cabinet and then yours. Oh and maybe check your club’s owners and what those barbaric scumbags did to Jamal Khashoggi and anyone else who dare stand up to the Saudi dictator.
Enjoy your match in the CL tonight, you’re only in it due to some dodgy final day of the season officiating which screwed over Villa.
Send my regards to your hero, Isak…
Feel the pain buddy. You lost on the pitch. Whether the Gunners end up 2nd or even 17th the result stands. Newcastke haven’t been better than the gunners in the last 20 years. And you haven’t won the title either since ages ago. STFU
You would bite your hand off to be in our position
How embarrassing to come onto a website and spout such rubbish, you are a second rate team who celebrated their first trophy in decades, no class
Is there anyone who thinks that this adds fuel to the fire with those who believe there’s a conspiracy against us?, I hope not.
The player is wearing a shirt, and if the ball needs drying use the shirt. Players of old used this method, and yes the shirts maybe a different fabric now. But they will still dry the ball, as you do see some still using this method.
All though I’ve commented on this article, and now I’m sort of contradicting myself on what I’m about to say. But this is a non-story really isn’t it?.🤷♂️
Maybe all new football shirts should have a towelling square sewed into the shirt front, now the long throw is making a comeback. It could also be used to wipe their noses on, instead mof gogging all over the pitch🤣🤣
Reminds me of my 7 yr old grandson 🤧
😂😂😂
Reggie, not a practical solution when throwing snot covered shirts into the supporters post-match 😱
Jax,
And it could be on the ball as well. Yuk. 😂
But I also guess it would give new meaning to the phrase our bogey team. 😂
It would be funny though🤣🤣🤣
Urgh, I don’t want that shirt😫you have i🤮🤧🥴
…and that poor unsuspecting child with the sign…”Calafiori, can I have your shirt?”
Reggie,
I agree with you regards spitting. That’s something I’ve found disgusting for years. And yet the football authority’s don’t do anything about it.
And what’s worse is when you see managers doing it. One of the worst is Guardiola. Filthy habit that should be stamped out. 🤦♂️
Nearly as bad as when GKs spit on their gloves rub them together then they are touching the ball all match .
Rarely see the women do this.
Oh you do
If Arsenal signed Woltemade in the summer, there would’ve likely not been a towel incident as Newcastle might’ve struggled to score
@Gai, Arsenal don’t need another player in the mould of Havertz and not even as skillful as Havertz. If Gabriel had not been “funny with his gimmicks” this guy wouldn’t have scored.
7 Corners: he got his head only on one and imo Gabriel scored a better header considering how crowded the box is.
Wolternade work rate is not even compared to Gyokeres. Gyokeres will silent his critics when New Players full gel and adopt to new tactics.
Woltemade is stronger and aerially better than Havertz, since he’s got a bigger stature
Gyokeres hasn’t been able to outpace, outmuscle and outjump big EPL CBs yet
This match had everything to be a classic only rival by the 3 – 2 win against Boumeounth.
But the referee should have ignore Pope request, I have quite a few kids at my house from time to time they come calling and complaining, ninty nine percent it has much to do about nothing.
Surely the towel will be talk about for a long time to come, in fact it will be use when referring to this particular. classic at Newcastle
I’m thinking both teams must have agreed to the use of towels otherwise Pope wouldn’t be allowed to use one and presumably if both weren’t in agreement then Pope should have been told not to as well. Regarding there fans booing Calafiori, most players taking corners, throw ins etc are booed by the opposition. At the end of the day though it’s all very petty but if someone used my towel at the swimming pool I’d complain too 😊
Goalkeepers are allowed their own towels. With there being no towels around the pitch, i would think they didn’t agree to anything.
Goalkeepers are allowed towels irrespective of the decisions made by the two teams. The idea is that they can keep their gloves dry. I’m thinking that Calafiori must have assumed that Pope’s towell was for general use.
‘Gabriel should’ve had a red card’ it’s a shame a Gooner is writing this without adding in Tonali did the same to Saka and Gyokeres had even worse done to him. Makes me feel the author didn’t watch the full match.
If a child bites but tells you that another child did something bad as well , does that make it okay ?
So if that applies to children surely it should apply to adults as well ?
It’s really a shame that you are insisting that Gabriel should have had a red card. Gabriel’s action was inappropriate but it is highly debatable that it was violent. Arsenal fans really ought to be more nuanced in their comments.
I’m not mate
I’m simply saying if there was this conspiracy they would have
What a weak point and poor analogy to make.
The point is that, if the writer is from an Arsenal perspective (or even neutral) then surely they would’ve been able to comprehend that the referee and Newcastle set the tone early on by doing nasty challenges equal to or worse than the one Gabriel did. Had Gabriel been sent off it would’ve caused absolute chaos as the ref had already allowed such actions to go ahead. Personally I feel it wasn’t a red given what had preceded it, he didn’t follow through with the motion, and I’m glad the contest remained 11v11.
I mention that the author overlooked this purely because the Sky and MOTD highlights only featured Gabriel’s challenge and neither the one on Saka or Gyokeres – maybe why the Gabriel one was the only one mentioned in the article as the full match wasn’t observed.
But that doesn’t mean Gabriel shouldn’t have been sent off ?
The point is there are some who think the officials are bias and corrupt
So if they woke up Sunday and were driving to that game with an agenda of we are going to screw Arsenal today , why wouldn’t they have sent Gabriel off ?
I never said there was a conspiracy, lumping me in with other fans who may think that serves absolutely no purpose.
Also, I explained why Gabriel shouldn’t have been sent off, it wasn’t heavy contact, it wasn’t a hand in the face, and he didn’t put his body behind it. It was risky but it would’ve been a yellow as it didn’t amount to serious violent conduct or an intention to harm/injure a player – hence why VAR didn’t request the referee take a look, had it been deemed violent conduct it may well have been, but like the ref and Newcastle, VAR also set the tone.
It’s a shame this article was written by a Gooner solely to rage-bait their own fanbase, were it not it would’ve been unbiased in mentioning the two other equally (if not worse) as bad incidents. Or even the towel ‘drama’ that most viewers instantly forgot about.
Never said you did mate
You should feel ashamed of your rhetoric, as the ‘2nd best’ team resulted in your Newcastle qualifying for CL at 5th position in the EPL due to their good performance in the 2024/2025 CL. If they finish 1st or 2nd, they are always bound to be above your Newcastle.
My comment above was in reply to David McAllister
Had a great weekend in Newcastle and met some really nice Geordies.
Only wish I could say the same about their football team and the way they played.
They are the modern day Stoke City and were completely outclassed by The Arsenal.
Never mind David McAllister, your barcodes might even catch up with Sunderland in the PL, as they gaze down on you from a great height!! 👇👍
Lovely City
@David McAllister, “I’m tellin’ ya I’d luv it if we beat them, luv it! 😀
Dave,
Very good. 😂👍
Good news for Arsenal. FIFA is trialing a new GREEN CARD in U20 World Cup now being held in Chile. Maybe Pgmol become reluctant to adopt it. If a team opposes the decision of the ref, the team manager (Arteta) shows the Green Card to the ref (Gillette) prompting the decision to be reviewed. Only 2 chances in a game. Maybe not enough for Arsenal.
That’ll probably go the same way as white cards.
Jax, maybe the authorities want to avoid using white or black cards as the basic idea might be wrongly construed. So they prefer to use the neutral word green.
Jax, maybe the authorities want to avoid using white or black cards as the basic idea might be wrongly construed. So they prefer to use the neutral word green.
All this talk about cards. Christmas is coming. 😂