Arsenal icon Paul Merson has slammed winger Gabriel Martinelli after he was caught offside in the build-up to Bukayo Saka's ruled-out winner against Fulham in the Premier League.
The Gunners were pushing for a winner against Marco Silva's side as they looked to close the gap to Liverpool to just four points. They thought they had done just that when Martinelli's cross was met invitingly by Saka to win the game with less than two minutes of normal time to be played.
However, their celebrations were cut short when VAR found that Martinelli was offside in the build-up despite looking down the line on the far side of the pitch. The draw left Arsenal six points behind Liverpool but that could be extended to nine once Arne Slot's side play Everton in their rearranged game.
After the final whistle, Merson could not hide his frustration with the Gunners' winger. "Yeah he is offside and in football terms it is criminal what Martinelli has done here," he told Sky Sports.
"I can’t express enough how, in football terms, you just can’t do that. You cannot be offside when you are looking along the line.
"You [Martinelli] have got pace, he is electric. He is not someone who has got to try and nick a yard and be on the edge.
"He can give someone a yard or two. I will be surprised if he is not on the end of one in the dressing room when he gets in, by the manager.
"Even he knows. You can see on his face afterwards that you can’t do that.
Gabriel Martinelli looks on after being caught offside during Arsenal's draw with Fulham
Gabriel Martinelli looks on after being caught offside during Arsenal's draw with Fulham
"We saw [Matheus] Nunes do that yesterday at Man City and Kevin De Bruyne go mad. You just can’t be offside when you are looking down that line, you can’t be offside… it is as simple as that."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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