Former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista has taken his place front and centre in the Spanish media headlines late on Thursday evening.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian and current employers Valencia, though, this has come for altogether less than positive reasons.
Gabriel was afforded his latest starting berth tonight, featuring from the off in the aforementioned Valencia’s La Liga showdown with champions Real Madrid.
The latter, unsurprisingly, ultimately went on to emerge from proceedings triumphant, courtesy of a pair of quickfire goals by way of Marco Asensio and Vinicius Jr. early in the 2nd-half.
ASENSIO WHAT A HIT ☄️☄️☄️ pic.twitter.com/lP0kLTAr8y
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 2, 2023
As alluded to above, though, en route to his side’s eventual defeat, Gabriel allowed his emotions to firmly get the better of him.
This came just inside the closing 20 minutes of play at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The incident sparked an ugly exchange between the two sets of players, leaving referee Javier Alberola with no choice but to brandish a straight red card in Gabriel’s direction:
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮 🟥
The former Arsenal defender kicks out at Vinicius Jr like a mad man and is sent off!#RealMadridValencia #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/XwZ1yYeo0V
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 2, 2023
STRAIGHT RED FOR PAULISTA ON THIS KICK 😬 pic.twitter.com/lmYK3GrbM1
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 2, 2023
GABRIEL CERDO HDP.
DEFIENDAN A VINICIUS CARAJO!!! https://t.co/0FWXzo2nAj
— MadridTotal (@MadridTotal_) February 2, 2023
