Melee: Gabriel Martinelli‘s behaviour sparked a furious reaction from the Liverpool players
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Gabriel Martinelli has apologised to Conor Bradley after the incident that occurred during Arsenal’s goalless draw with Liverpool.
Bradley went down next to the sideline with a knee injury during the latter stages of Thursday night’s high-profile Premier League stalemate at the Emirates Stadium, with Martinelli first dropping the ball on the Reds right-back - whom he appeared to believe was attempting to waste time as Arsenal chased a late winning goal - and then attempting to shove him off the pitch.
His actions sparked a furious reaction from Liverpool’s players as an angry melee ensued, with the severity of Bradley’s injury quickly becoming clear as he received treatment and was then stretchered off with his hands covering his face.
Martinelli was subject to widespread criticism from fans and pundits alike, with Gary Neville and Roy Keane both labelling his behaviour as “disgraceful” on Sky Sports.
“You can't push him off the pitch,” Neville said on commentary, having admitted that he was “fuming” over the incident. “You cannot do that. You idiot. That is so poor.
“I am surprised one of the Liverpool players have not gone over and had a right pop at him. I think an apology is needed.
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“He's thrown the ball at him as well. That is no good. I am actually fuming with Martinelli.
“I don't know how the Liverpool players didn't go over and absolutely whack him to be honest with you and take a red card. Absolutely disgraceful, that.”
Martinelli - who was booked by referee Anthony Taylor following the clashes with Liverpool players - later took to social media to reveal that he had sent Bradley a message of apology, insisting that he did not realise the seriousness of the injury in the “heat of the moment”.
“Conor and I have messaged and I have already apologised to him,” the Brazilian international wrote on Instagram.
“I really didn't understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment. I want to say I'm deeply sorry for reacting.
"Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was not happy with Bradley being moved as he expressed fears over a possible long-term injury for the Northern Ireland defender, though he later defended Martinelli by insisting that the prevalence of time-wasting in modern football made his intentions understandable.
"I don't know Gabriel Martinelli but he comes across as a nice guy,” said Slot.
"The problem in general in football is that there's so much time-wasting and players pretending to be injured, that you can be annoyed that you think a player is time-wasting.
"You cannot expect Martinelli to think so clearly in the 94th minute. I'm a hundred per cent sure that if he knew what the injury might be, he would never do that."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta also launched a defence of Martinelli, saying: “Knowing Gabi, he's an incredible, lovely guy, and he probably didn't realise what happened.
“I hope that Conor is well, I will have a word with him to understand that. Probably (Martinelli) didn't recognise what happened.”