Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhães claims that they “don’t really care” what Fabian Hurzeler says after the Brighton boss strongly criticised them for time wasting.
Ahead of the two side’s meeting at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday, Hurzeler accused the Gunners of taking too long on corners and called for stricter rules on set pieces amid increasing physicality in such situations.
The German coach doubled down on his comments following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Brighton, complaining that Brighton were the “only one team who tried to play football” and accusing Mikel Arteta’s side of “making their own rules”.
According to Opta, the north London outfit took 30 minutes and 51 seconds to restart play against Brighton, their highest total in a Premier League match this season.
Arsenal ‘don’t care’ about Hurzeler’s time-wasting accusations
Gabriel has has hit back at Hurzeler’s comments, insisting that it is up the referee to dictate how much time Arsenal take on set pieces.
“We don’t really care about what he says,” Gabriel told ESPN Brazil (via SportWitness). “That is for the referee to decide on the pitch. If he wants to give a yellow card or not, he decides the time we take. We just have to do things the way we are doing and keep going.”
The victory over Brighton saw Arsenal extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table over Manchester City to four points. City drew 2-2 at home with Nottingham Forest on the same.
Gabriel says they are not concerned with other teams, insisting that “we have to focus on what we have to do, which is win our games”.
The centre-back added: “We have to concentrate on ourselves and keep going the way we are. Now it’s three wins in a row, and of course we have to keep winning. That’s the most important thing.”
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