Jamie Carragher went into detail around Arsenal's pressing tactics against Manchester City and explained why Gabriel Martinelli appeared out of position for the winning goal
Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher defended Gabriel Martinelli(Image: Sky Sports )
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Jamie Carragher has launched a passionate defence of Gabriel Martinelli after the Arsenal forward was criticised by Roy Keane for his part in Manchester City's winning goal on Sunday. Erling Haaland scored the winner in the second half as City beat their title rivals 2-1 - and Carragher has given a fresh take on the goal.
City's vital goal came when Gianluigi Donnarumma threw the ball out to left-back Nico O'Reilly, who carried it up the pitch into a huge space. Seconds later, it was Haaland who battled with Gabriel Magalhaes and struck a left-footed shot past David Raya from O'Reilly's ball across the box.
The post-match analysis of the goal on Sky Sports focused on Martinelli's decision to step up and close down Marc Guehi, who had pulled to the left of City's penalty area to give his goalkeeper an option. Donnarumma recognised where the space was and beat Arsenal's press with his throw out to O'Reilly.
"Martinelli helps the goalkeeper make a decision by pressing too early, they're not really set," ex-Manchester United midfielder Keane said on Sky Sports. "They don't need to go chasing the game. This is where your mentality and decision making as experienced players..."
He added: "I'd be putting this more on Arsenal. Credit to O'Reilly - he's an attack-minded player and his form is outstanding and defensively he was brilliant today. But Martinelli doesn't have to press there! He doesn't have to press! And if anything it encourages the goalkeeper to throw it out."
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira then said: "I completely agree with you. I think when you're looking at Donnarumma with the ball in his hands there was a huge space between the Arsenal back four and the front players. There's a huge space - Arsenal weren't set and weren't ready to go and put pressure [on]."
However, Carragher saw it differently. Speaking on Monday Night Football, he emphasised the risk-reward nature of Arsenal's pressing efforts at the Etihad Stadium, and pointed out that it was Martinelli's pressing which had set up a huge chance for Kai Havertz minutes earlier.
Gabriel Martinelli's decision to press left space for Nico O'Reilly
Gabriel Martinelli's decision to press left space for Nico O'Reilly(Image: Sky Sports)
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"This is really important in terms of the winning goal," Carragher explained. "Where I've said they were brave, Arsenal, is in the press, high pressing. But if you're going to high press, you've got to accept that, at times, you're going to get caught out, because the whole point of pressing is that you win the ball up high and you've got a great chance going forward. If you get caught out, then you're going to leave something behind.
"There's been a lot of criticism around Martinelli on the winning goal. I think it's harsh and I'll tell you why. If you're going to take the chance to press, you've got to take the rough with the smooth."
Then speaking over a clip of Martinelli winning the ball and sparking a counter-attack for Arsenal, which saw Havertz denied by Donnarumma one-on-one, he said: "The idea at the start of the game is to be aggressive and to press high. He presses here and that ball is on to leave [Cristhian] Mosquera in a two-v-one. That's the chance you take when you press high.
"The pass (for City) was on, but he (Martinelli) now wins a tackle. That tackle leads to Arsenal having a chance at 1-1 to go 2-1 up. That wins them the league. If that chance goes in, the league is won. So Martinelli is taking the chance to go and win Arsenal the league."
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