Image Credits: Gabriel Martinelli (Instagram)
Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli attempted to push injured Liverpool defender Conor Bradley off the pitch during stoppage time of Thursday’s goalless draw.
Bradley fell awkwardly near the touchline late in the game, with Martinelli appearing to believe the Reds’ right-back was time-wasting.
The Arsenal winger first threw the ball towards Bradley before attempting to manhandle him, prompting an angry reaction from Liverpool players and sparking a brief confrontation.
Following the incident, both Martinelli and Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate were shown yellow cards. Bradley was eventually carried off the pitch on a stretcher, visibly distressed.
After the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot described Martinelli as a “nice guy” and played down the incident, defending the Arsenal winger’s actions. “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli but he comes across as a nice guy,” Slot said.
“I think the problem for him is – and that’s the problem in general in football – is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending they are injured in the final parts of the game or during the game that you can then sometimes be annoyed if you want to score a goal that you think that player is time-wasting.
“I cannot ask from Gabriel Martinelli in the 94th minute when it’s so emotional for him to understand that he plays Liverpool and that is a team when they are being held, held, held against Leeds United we don’t even go to the floor, if we play West Ham United and [Lucas] Paqueta tries everything to get a second yellow card and my players try to drag him out.
“You cannot expect from Martinelli that he thinks so clear in the 94th minute. I am 100 per cent sure if he knew what the injury might be that he we would never do that.
“But it doesn’t look great if he has the injury which we fear he might have, of course. But football, time-wasting, diving has come to the situation that players think in the 94th minute that probably that is happening again.
“Because I have seen it happening against us so many times this season that I can understand that Martinelli might have thought that this was time-wasting as well and he couldn’t have thought, ‘This is Liverpool, they don’t do this.'”
Martinelli has since issued an apology on social media. “I really didn’t understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment,” Martinelli posted on his Instagram story. “I want to say I’m deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”
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