Image Credits: Imago Images
The goalless draw between Arsenal and Liverpool on Thursday night was marred by a controversial incident in stoppage time involving Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli and Conor Bradley.
Bradley went down off the ball in the 94th minute after appearing to suffer a serious knee injury while attempting to clear near the touchline. As the Northern Ireland international lay on the turf in visible pain, Martinelli dropped the ball on him and then shoved him in the back, attempting to push him off the pitch so Arsenal could quickly resume play.
The incident sparked outrage and dominated much of the post-game discussion, with fans wondering if they Arsenal man would be given further punishment for his actions.
However, Dominic Smith of the Independent has reported that Martinelli will not receive any further sanctions after his shove on the Liverpool defender:
“Gabriel Martinelli will not face any retrospective action for shoving Conor Bradley.”
“It is understood that the Football Association felt on-field referee Anthony Taylor dealt with the situation appropriately.”
It’s added that the FA feel that the yellow card was a sufficient reaction from the match official, and that no further action is required:
“In-game incidents are only subject to retrospective action from English football’s governing body when the FA feels a referee and their VAR team have missed a key incident or have missed crucial elements of an incident.”
“This does not apply to Martinelli’s push on Bradley, as the Brazilian was cautioned.”
Meanwhile, Martinelli himself was quick to aplogise for his actions, taking to Instagram on Thursday night:
“Conor and I have messaged and I’ve already apologised to him,” he wrote. “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”.
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