VIDEO: Injured Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes bizarrely gets involved in furious bust-up in London six-a-side game

Gabriel is currently out with a thigh injury sustained while on international duty with Brazil on November 15 and is expected to return in early January. The setback came as a massive blow to Premier League leaders Arsenal, for whom Gabriel is a key member of Mikel Arteta’s imperious defensive unit which had conceded just five goals in 11 league matches prior to his injury.

As reported by The Sun, Gabriel was invited to watch the six-a-side match in Peckham and surprisingly had a role to play as the game descended into chaos. A spat ensued after a player on one team was hit by a ‘horror tackle’ and ‘left lying in agony on the ground’.

Gabriel was prompted to run at ‘full speed’ across the astro turf to confront the offender, and was seen yelling at the player in Portuguese in a video uploaded to social media. The 27-year-old was wearing a black cap and a hoodie and was at the centre of the verbal confrontation, which did not become physical. The match apparently came to an end after the tackle and resulting incident, with both sets of players opting to return home.

An onlooker, who was in attendance watching the game, said: “It was really unexpected. He didn’t look injured when he sprinted across the pitch to get involved. I don’t know if he knew them personally but he seemed to just see red and fly off the handle. Nobody quite knew what to say but it was really intense. 

“It shows how passionate he is about football that he would get this competitive over a six-a-side match between two amateur teams playing for fun in the evenings. He had a bit of a shout – it wasn’t physical – and then that probably got it out of his system. Then everything calmed down.”

Arteta said in November on Gabriel’s injury: "Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team. He will be out for weeks. We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment” – later confirmations stated the Brazilian is likely to be out until January.

"It's clearly a blow," Arteta added. "It's our leader in our backline. To miss him is never a positive thing. The good thing is we have some very good options. They need to stand up now."

With Gabriel expected to be out until the New Year, the 27-year-old will look to keep himself out of trouble in the meantime as he works to return to full fitness for Arsenal.

The former Lille defender is known as one of the most passionate and fearsome defenders in the Premier League, and so to hear of him involved in such a verbal altercation may not come as a great surprise to Gunners fans – though the particular circumstances of the six-a-side incident may raise a few eyebrows.

‘Big Gabi’ as he is known by fans will likely look to swiftly move on from the incident and is expected to be in attendance as his side host Wolves on Saturday night. Arteta’s men then face Everton, Brighton and Aston Villa in their upcoming fixtures to see out 2025.