Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli sparked a brawl at the Emirates Stadium after shoving an injured Conor Bradley, who suffered a worrying injury and was stretchered off.
Bradley stayed down after attempting to clear the ball out of play, but appeared to awkwardly twist his knee in the process. Arsenal was frustrated at the Emirates and held to a 0-0 draw, the first time they’d failed to score at home this season.
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Arsenal showed frustration when chasing a late winner, and Martinelli lost his cool when shoving Bradley, with fans complaining at the stoppage in play. Martinelli was then confronted by several Liverpool players and was shown a yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor, but Bradley wasn’t wasting time; he had suffered an injury.
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Joe Gomez came on to replace Bradley for the final minutes, and Liverpool held on to claim a point in London. The last time that Arsenal had failed to score in the Premier League was at Anfield in August, when Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick handed Liverpool a 1-0 victory.
Arsenal dominated the first half of Thursday’s game, motivated by a weakened Liverpool side as striker Hugo Ekitike was absent due to injury. However, the momentum shifted in the second half, and Liverpool took the initiative.
It took Arsenal until the 88th minute to register its first shot on target in the second half, as Gabriel Jesus saw a weak header saved by Allison. Martinelli then saw his shot saved by the Liverpool goalkeeper moments later, before clashing with Bradley and his teammates.
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Martinelli’s behavior angered former Premier League star Gary Neville, who said on Sky Sports that he was “absolutely fuming” with the Brazilian. Neville then said Liverpool players should have “given him a whack,” and Ibrahima Konate did confront him.
Like Martinelli, Konate was also shown a yellow card for his reaction. Fans on social media agreed with Neville’s stance, calling out Martinelli for his lack of respect.
“Absolutely disgraceful stuff from Gabriel Martinelli, first throwing the ball at and then shoving a clearly injured Conor Bradley,” one fan wrote on X. “Bradley seriously injured and Martinelli pushes him off the pitch, so classless,” another added.
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“Martinelli what a prat. Pushing a player off the pitch who might have a bad knee injury,” a third wrote. “Hope Martinelli gets banned for this. Horrible behaviour to someone clearly seriously injured,” another claimed.
While Arsenal was chasing three points, and was clearly frustrated due to scoring in each home game this season, it was a fair result for both teams. Arsenal dominated in the first half, Liverpool was the better team in the second, but neither team managed to produce the quality needed in the final third.
More to follow…
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