Gabriel Branded a ‘Cheat’ After Embarrassing Dive During Brighton vs Arsenal

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães has been facing a huge backlash online after an incident during Arsenal’s embarrassing defeat to Brighton.

The Brazilian appeared to go down under contact during the match, and the reaction from football fans online was immediate.

Some supporters have gone as far as branding Gabriel a cheat, with the incident quickly becoming one of the main talking points surrounding Arsenal’s afternoon.

The timing certainly didn’t help.

Brighton were dominating the champions and eventually completed a 3-0 victory, with Pascal Groß, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andrés finding the net.

Arsenal had gone into the match with a perfect four wins from four in the Premier League, but Brighton completely disrupted their afternoon.

And while the result itself will obviously be the biggest concern for Mikel Arteta, Gabriel’s incident has given rival fans something else to talk about.

The reaction online has been particularly fierce, with supporters accusing the Arsenal defender of going down too easily and questioning the sportsmanship of the moment.

Of course, calling someone a cheat is a much stronger accusation than simply saying a player exaggerated contact or went down easily. Without knowing exactly what Gabriel felt in the moment, it’s difficult to know his intention.

But football is football, and once an incident like this goes viral, the reaction is usually relentless.

For Arsenal, though, the bigger issue is the result.

The Premier League champions were beaten 3-0 by Brighton, turning what had been a perfect league start into a very different story by the final whistle.

And Gabriel’s controversial moment will now be added to the list of talking points from a miserable afternoon for the Gunners.

One thing is certain: football fans are not letting this one go anytime soon. 😂