Pain in the Arsenal
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Ridiculous Red Card Will Make Gabriel Paulista An Arsenal Cult Hero

By Josh Sippie

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In the midst of a rather smashing match between Chelsea and Arsenal, Gabriel Paulista found himself the recipient of a highly ridiculous red card. After Diego Costa got away with what could legally be considered assault on Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel stepped up on behalf of his team mate and countered the usual bush league antics of Costa. Both were handed a yellow card, but nothing of the yellow variety was going to stop this fracas.

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As the spat continued, it seemed to be winding down when yet again, Diego Costa was seen whining to referee Mike Dean along with half of the Chelsea side. I am sure, if Zlatan Ibrahimovic was watching, he would have had fond memories.

Well, it worked, as Mike Dean emerged from the sea of Blue showing red for what has been deemed a ‘heel flick’ that no one other than Mike Dean and Diego Costa have seen.

Gabriel Paulista was not done. As soon as he saw red, he went after Diego Costa. Of course, nothing was going to come of that, as he was escorted off the pitch to chants of “Diego.” That right there, is enough to make your blood boil.

On one side of the spectrum, Gabriel Paulista should have kept his head on his shoulders. But that is all I will say of that because he was by far not the guilty party. When I say that Costa got away with what can legally be construed as assault on Koscielny, I mean it. He shoved him in the face twice, chested him to ground, and continued the spat with whomever he could take on.

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Gabriel Paulista being shown a red card may be considered the turning point of the game, but it will endear him to the Arsenal fans more than anything could. After being highly-criticized for the reported aggressive play that lead to Jack Wilshere’s injury, Gabriel won the starting job thanks to a Per Mertesacker virus and he has been magnificent. Composure and confidence have exuded his game. Now that we see the Red in his veins and the undoubted ‘love’ this will earn him every time he visits Stamford Bridge, Gabriel Paulista is going to become a fan favorite in no time.

The entire proceedings were despicable but to single out Gabriel Paulista as the guiltiest party is a joke. It was described as ‘part of Diego Costa’s job’ which is a sickening concept in and of itself. If part of Costa’s job is to get away with assault because he cannot play his game without it, then there is a far bigger issue here. Even opposing fans recognized the ineptitude of the whole situation:

Gabriel Paulista deserves credit for what he did. The fact that he got a red card is a blatant mistake by referee Mike Dean. It was an unneeded influence on this game.

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