Injured Arsenal star sends one-word message to Gabriel after Newcastle winner

Gabriel was the hero for Arsenal at St James’ Park (Picture: Getty Images)

Noni Madueke is out with injury, but that didn’t stop him enjoying Arsenal’s dramatic late winner against Newcastle on Sunday.

The Gunners looked to be heading to a defeat as Nick Woltemade’s first half opener for the Magpies remained the only goal of the game as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.

However, substitute Mikel Merino rose and deftly nodded a header into the far corner from a Declan Rice cross to level things up on 84 minutes.

Arsenal continued to push and found a winner deep into stoppage time, with Gabriel scoring the third headed goal of the match from a Martin Odegaard corner.

The Brazilian’s goal came in the 96th minute to send the Gunners second in the table with a 2-1 win , just two points behind leaders Liverpool.

Madueke, who is out for six-eight of weeks with a knee injury picked up against Manchester City , watched on from afar and was quick to celebrate the win on social media.

The England winger posted a photo of Gabriel celebrating, tagging his teammate and writing: ‘Monsterrrrr.’

The sidelined Gunners star enjoyed the dramatic win (Picture: Instagram)

Mikel Arteta was thrilled to see his team claim the three points, something he felt they deserved in a match they largely dominated.

‘To win in the manner that we have done it, wow what a feeling!’ Arteta told the BBC. ‘Football is about emotion and going through things and today we had a beautiful one at the end of the match.’

Merino said of the stoppage time winner from Gabriel: ‘That shows a lot and not only set-pieces strategy but also mentality.

‘Other teams if they get six/seven corners and they don’t score, they start to lose belief in the qualities but for us it’s a matter of keep doing what we do, doing it at the highest level and in the end the last one, last second, we scored and I’m really happy.’

Gabriel came to Arsenal’s rescue late on (Picture: Getty)

Woltemade scored his second goal for Newcastle (Picture: Getty)

Arteta said on Sky Sports: ‘We fully deserved the win. the way we played, the way we competed. We fully deserved the win.

‘The chances we generated. I think we fully deserved to win the game. We did it in a dramatic manner, but so happy and so proud of the team.’

He added: ‘That’s how you get to a different level. Going through those tough moments and taking experiences from it.

‘We discussed that in the game, and it’s a massive opportunity now to make a statement and to prove to everybody and ourselves the team that we are.

"THE GUNNERS HAVE GONE AND DONE IT!" Gabriel with a 96th-minute goal to complete the Arsenal comeback ✅ pic.twitter.com/iD7ZQcl1xI — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 28, 2025

‘And we certainly with the performance and thankfully with the results as well at the end.