Former Man Utd and England midfielder Paul Scholes (Picture: YouTube) Paul Scholes says Gabriel Magalhaes ‘gets away with murder’ after avoiding a red card in Arsenal’s recent win over Chelsea. The Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the new season with a 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea on Sunday. While trailing to Morgan Rogers’ early volley, Gabriel was perhaps fortunate not to see red after kicking Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the head during a scramble in the box. The referee’s view was obstructed by several players and VAR did not intervene, much to the surprise of Manchester United legends Scholes and Nicky Butt. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. ‘He should have been sent off,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. ‘I missed it at first but it should be a red card. He’s gone miles over the bar.’ After podcast host Paddy McGuinness suggested Gabriel routinely ‘gets away with murder’, Scholes responded: ‘He does, yeah. ‘You get some players like that. Like, say me or Nicky made a foul, we got booked. Then there’s other players who can make ten fouls a game and nothing happens. Gabriel after Arsenal’s win over Chelsea (Picture: Getty) ‘They get up and go to the referee, “oh, I’m sorry”. Do you know what I mean? They get away with it when other players don’t, and he’s one of them, isn’t he?’ Fellow former England midfielder Butt added: ‘It was ridiculous. If they don’t think that’s a sending off then there’s no point of having VAR. I don’t understand it.’ Ex-Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney also felt Gabriel should have seen red for his wild kick at new Chelsea goalkeeper Martinez. How this was not a foul? Gabriel kicking Martinez on head, should have been straight RED. #ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/5icTyXMmh9— The Final Whistle (@Rufus_45) September 6, 2026 Analysing the incident on BBC’s Match of the Day, Rooney said: ‘You don’t really see it at first sight but then when you see a replay and they slow it down… ‘Martinez has got the ball in his hands and Gabriel boots him in the head, he swings a leg and goes way over the top. He’s extremely lucky to stay on the pitch.’ Former England defender Ashley Young added: ‘I agree. When the ball is on the floor and Martinez has it, Gabriel kicks so high. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'It was beautiful': Arteta hails Arsenal's attack-to-defence display in win against Chelsea","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/07\/2593273995855020828\/480x270_MP4_2593273995855020828.mp4","description":"Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium after Morgan Rogers stunned home fans into silence with a volleyed goal 77 seconds into the game.","duration":"T5M27S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/07\/07\/111091359-0-image-a-53_1788761962819.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-07T07:17:08+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘I’m not sure why it hasn’t gone to VAR of if they’ve properly studied it because he’s nowhere the ball. He’s got away with one there.’ Gabriel has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world in recent years,