What a week to be Gabriel Martinelli.
The villain of the television broadcasts on Thursday, the hero of the travelling Arsenal support on Sunday.
The 24-year-old ended a week in the spotlight with a brilliant final flourish — a hat-trick to help Mikel Arteta’s team to a 4-1 FA Cup third-round win at Portsmouth.
Earlier in the week, Martinelli had been subject to considerable criticism after he shoved an injured Conor Bradley off the pitch in stoppage time of Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against Liverpool.
Sky’s Gary Neville called Martinelli “an idiot” and described his actions as “disgraceful”. Liverpool manager Arne Slot was far more generous, suggesting he could “understand” Martinelli’s conduct in a league riddled by feigned injury and time-wasting.
For his part, Martinelli made a public and private apology, stating he did not realise the seriousness of Bradley’s injury “in the heat of the moment”. It was confirmed on Sunday that right-back Bradley has sustained a season-ending injury that will require surgery.
The Bradley affair was clearly still on the minds of the 20,000 fans who attended this third-round tie at Fratton Park. The 3,000 travelling Arsenal supporters enjoyed several choruses of “Gary Neville, he’s a w*****”. When Portsmouth’s Makenzie Kirk went down injured on the touchline, they urged Martinelli: “Gabi, push him off; Gabi, Gabi, push him off.”
Martinelli was also the target of boos from the Portsmouth fans — but by the end it was unclear whether that was still for his actions against Bradley, or because he had been the goalscoring scourge of the home team.
Despite the noise, Martinelli appeared fully focused on his football — and reaped the rewards.
“That’s why to play for a big club, you need a big personality,” Arteta told a pitch-side post-match press conference. “Because it can be bad — it can be an action that you miss, it can be something that costs you a game — and three days later, there is a game. So you need to lift yourself up and make it count.”
Martinelli did precisely that, recording the first hat-trick of his senior career. Arsenal fell behind to a Colby Bishop goal after just three minutes, but recovered to complete a commanding victory.
The hat-trick included two near-identical goals: a pair of near-post headers from inswinging Noni Madueke corners. “His timing in the box is really good, especially when he’s in certain spaces,” noted Arteta.
Given the trouble Premier League defences have containing Arsenal at corners, it was perhaps no surprise that Portsmouth struggled. Three of the visitors’ four goals came from corner kicks — they have now scored 17 goals from corners in all competitions this season; the most by any Premier League team.
Martinelli’s other goal came after a quick free kick from Myles Lewis-Skelly allowed Gabriel Jesus to cross for his compatriot.
He might have had more: in the first half, he hit the post when it seemed easier to score, and missed a presentable chance after a superb through ball from stand-in captain Mikel Merino. Arsenal could and perhaps should have had this game wrapped up by half-time.
Arsenal also missed a penalty through Madueke, who had a somewhat typical game: huge threat, variable end product. His excellent set-piece delivery, however, ensured he picked up two assists.
Martinelli’s hat-trick meant he leapfrogged Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres (who have seven apiece) to become Arsenal’s top goalscorer in all competitions, with nine. The “all competitions” part of that is noteworthy — just one of those goals has come in the Premier League.
That is understandable: the form of Trossard has made starts in that competition somewhat hard to come by.
But Arsenal have ambitions to compete on multiple fronts. This victory ensures they are still fighting for four separate competitions.
Now more than ever, they need sterling contributions from everyone in the squad. A cup specialist like Martinelli could play a vital part in helping end their wait for silverware.
Arteta was also delighted to welcome back Kai Havertz, who replaced Jesus to make his first appearance since the opening weekend of the season.
In a month in which Arsenal face fixtures in all four competitions, the squad appears to be filling out at just the right time. The production line continues, too: 16-year-old defender Marli Salmon came on to become Arsenal’s youngest player in the FA Cup.
It was Martinelli’s day, though — and his match ball. Arteta was full of praise for the Brazilian’s resilient attitude:
Gabriel Martinelli’s hat-trick sent Arsenal into the FA Cup fourth round (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“I love it,” said the Arsenal manager. “Gabi, in every context that you throw him in, he plays, he doesn’t play. He performs well, not well. Today, he scored three goals.
“Tomorrow, he’s going to train 100 miles an hour, for sure.
“He’s not going to change that. And that’s Gabi.”
