Mikel Arteta defended Gabriel Martinelli after the forward appeared to throw the ball at injured Liverpool defender Conor Bradley on Thursday, and talkSPORT host Alan Brazil has claimed footballers who cry wolf are to blame.
Arteta defends Martinelli as Arsenal and Liverpool play out 0-0 draw
Bradley, who later left the Emirates on crutches with his left knee in a support, went down during the closing stages of Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against the Premier League champions.
The Northern Ireland international was in some discomfort before Martinelli dropped the ball on him then attempted to manhandle him off the pitch, which provoked a furious reaction from both Liverpool players and Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville.
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“Knowing Gabi, he’s an incredible, lovely guy,” Arteta said after the match, which maintained the Gunners' six point lead at the top of the table.
“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.”
Roy Keane called Martinelli’s action “a disgrace" on Sky's coverage and Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted he "fears the worst" as Liverpool await the results of a scan.
Alan Brazil blames diving for Martinelli incident
Speaking on talkSPORT on Friday morning, former Arsenal defender Ray Parlour suggested Martinelli did not recognise the severity of Bradley's injury, while host Brazil suggested diving at the professional level means players can't possibly know when an injury is real - namechecking Chelsea star Marc Cucurella.
"It's quite clear he didn't recognise the extent of it, but that's because people cheat all the time," Brazil said. "That's why."
Responding to Parlour claiming Martinelli will be "devastated" by what happened, he continued: "Yesterday I said, I was chatting about, tongue in cheek about Cucurella, you know he needs a slap.
marc-cucurella-chelsea
"The way he goes down and rolls about, that's why (players don't know)."
Cucurella was sent off during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at Fulham this week for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity as Harry Wilson raced through on goal.
The Spain international's red card was the Blues' fifth of the season - no other team in the top flight has more than three.
Team Red Cards
Chelsea 5
Everton 3
Tottenham 2
Wolves 2
Sunderland 2
West Ham 2
Burnley 2
Newcastle 2
Martinelli meanwhile has since apologised for Thursday's incident on Instagram.
"I really didn't understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment," he said.
"I want to say I'm deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery."