Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described Gabriel Martinelli as an ‘incredible’ and ‘lovely’ player following the goalless Premier League draw against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners went into the game with a five-point lead over Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the table. They had the opportunity to go eight points clear by beating the Reds.
However, they were unable to do so. Arne Slot’s side were better side during the second half, where the Gunners were limited to just three shots, which came from the 90th minute.
Following the 0-0 stalemate, much of the attention was on Martinelli after he attempted to push Conor Bradley off the field, thinking that he was time-wasting in the 94th minute.
The Brazilian had not known that Bradley had twisted his knee accidentally. Speaking after the game, Arteta said that Martinelli is an incredible and lovely guy, who did not recognise what had happened.
He told Arsenal.com: “Knowing Gabi, if anybody knows Gabi, he’s an incredible, lovely guy. And probably he didn’t realise what happened.
“I hope that Conor as well, I will have a word with him now, with him, to understand that. But probably he didn’t recognise what happened.”
Martinelli is one of the nicest footballers in world football and did not realise that Bradley was injured. The whole incident has been blown out of proportion, especially from a few pundits.
The 24-year-old texted Bradley and apologised after the game.
Despite the frustrating draw, the Gunners are six points clear at the top of the standings, and have an eight-day gap before they face Nottingham Forest on the road in their next league fixture.
Prior to that, the London giants will be in FA Cup third round action at Portsmouth on Sunday. They will be followed by the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Arteta will no doubt heavily rotated for the first of those games. Martinelli is poised to start at Fratton Park. Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino, Ben White among others could feature from the off.
The Gunners will still have a strong starting line-up against the struggling Championship outfit. They will be eyeing to make the FA Cup fourth round for the first time since the 2022/23 campaign.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com