Arsenal and Liverpool clashed in one of the most anticipated fixtures of the season. It was expected to be a cracker of a contest. However, what we witnessed was a pretty dull affair last week. Both teams failed to break the deadlock. And the game ended 0-0. The attackers did not engage themselves too much in the match, and the fans were consequently left disappointed. There wasn’t too much to talk about related to football in the game, but outside of football, there was a massive talking point. During the backend of the game, Liverpool defender Conor Bradley suffered a serious injury. After sustaining the injury, he remained down on the ground, unable to move. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli took matters into his own hands and pushed the injured Conor Bradley, attempting to resume the game. This received heavy backlash from the Liverpool fans and football fans as well. Conor Bradley is now reportedly out for the whole season.
Conor Bradley and his injury
The reason Gabriel Martinelli acted aggressively against an injured Conor Bradley is that the injury happened during the stoppage time. We are used to seeing players waste time during the backend of the game by faking injuries. Wasting time is a common practice nowadays, and the opposition’s players preventing that practice is also very common. That is exactly what happened between Martinelli and Conor Bradley as well. The only difference is that Conor Bradley was not trying to waste time. He was genuinely down in pain and was unable to move. Bradley landed awkwardly on the edge of the touchline while chasing the ball in stoppage time. While landing in a difficult position, he consequently injured his knee. The injury has badly damaged his bone and ligament.
On the other hand, Gabriel Martinelli, assuming Bradley was time-wasting, pushed him away, attempting to restart the game by keeping Bradley off the pitch. The push from Martinelli outraged the Liverpool players, who approached the Brazilian aggressively. Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate was particularly involved in the tussle, resulting in the referee booking him. Martinelli also received a booking for his actions. That ended an extremely tense situation for both sets of players.
Backlash from fans after Conor Bradley injury
However, the situation did not end there. It was simply the beginning of a massive fan backlash. No one from the football fraternity was happy with what they saw at the Emirates Stadium. The lack of footballing talking points in the game provided more media coverage of this incident. Pundits were actively discussing the incident. The fans were furious and the incident made headlines everywhere. The backlash is because of how badly Martinelli’s actions looked. Some are even claiming Bradley’s injury worsened because of Martinelli’s push.
Liverpool announce that Conor Bradley suffered a significant knee injury vs. Arsenal.
He likely won't play for Liverpool again this season 😔 pic.twitter.com/gG6RrZPAnp
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 11, 2026
Martinelli apologises to Conor Bradley
After the backlash and angry reactions from the fans, Martinelli turned to his social media handle to fix the issue. On his Instagram story, Martinelli publicly apologised and also wished Conor Bradley a speedy recovery from the injury.
*“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,*” Martinelli wrote on Instagram.
Conclusion
Some are saying Martinelli shouldn’t be disturbed anymore because he has clearly mentioned he did not know the seriousness of the injury. Furthermore, he has also publicly apologised. However, another set of people is still furious with Martinelli for his actions. The furiousness is still very active because Conor Bradley is basically out for the season. It has to be noted that Bradley was a starter for Liverpool. So the news of such an important player being out for the whole season has kept the anger alive against Martinelli amongst the Liverpool fans.
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