Arguably, no footballer has been in the spotlight more than Gabriel Martinelli following matchday 21 of the Premier League season.
The Arsenal winger came off the bench during the Gunners’ 0-0 draw with Liverpool and produced the most memorable moment of the match.
Martinelli is a great asset to have off the bench because he so often influences games when Arsenal need him, but on this occasion, his impact was one of controversy.
In stoppage time, Martinelli was involved in an incident with Conor Bradley, mistakenly thinking that the Liverpool defender was time-wasting, when in fact, he’d suffered a serious injury.
- READ MORE: Ian Wright says what he really thinks of Gabriel Martinelli after Connor Bradley controversy
What did you feel when you saw this unfold?
Horrible from Martinelli..
Sources close to Gabriel Martinelli react to Conor Bradley incident
It was a moment of madness from Martinelli, whose actions looked incredibly distasteful as the world watched cringing once Bradley’s injury was realised.
The Arsenal forward apologised to Bradley after the game, and days later, it was revealed that the Liverpool star will miss the rest of the season.
If you were Conor Bradley, how would you respond to this apology from Gabriel Martinelli?
Even though Arne Slot sympathised with Martinelli, Liverpool fans are still raging with the 24-year-old, whose actions have since been labelled as widely uncharacteristic.
The Daily Mail gained information from sources close to the Arsenal man, who made it abundantly clear that the incident involving Bradley was ‘entirely out of his character’.
Amid a lot of negative press, several figures have shown support for Martinelli, including Martin Keown, who described the Brazilian as ‘one of the nicest people’.
Given how poor the situation looked when it unfolded in real time, the backlash Martinelli has received is conceivable, but there’s no doubt that the saga was sensationalised by Gary Neville.
What Gary Neville said about Gabriel Martinelli
To say that Neville was furious with Martinelli’s push on Bradley is an understatement.
On Sky Sports’ live commentary, the Manchester United icon called Martinelli ‘disgraceful’ and said that Liverpool players should ‘whack him’.
When the incident first unfolded, Neville said:
“You can’t push him off the pitch! You cannot do that. That is so poor. I think an apology is needed.”
If you could make one pundit stop talking about Arsenal, who would you choose and why?
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher or someone else?
He continued by saying:
“Bradley is being stretchered off. I’m fuming with Martinelli to be honest. Disgraceful.”
Adding, “I’m actually fuming with Martinelli. Honestly, I don’t know how the Liverpool players didn’t go over there and whack him, to be honest with you and take a red card. Absolutely disgraceful.”
It was a remarkably unprofessional reaction from Neville, who has inadvertently received as much backlash as the Arsenal man.
What’s clear is that the situation has concluded, Martinelli was never out to endanger his opponent, and Neville should think carefully about his reporting of instances of that manner.
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