LONDON (AP) — Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli apologized to Conor Bradley after he bundled the injured Liverpool defender off the field in the final moments of the game. Team’s 0-0 draw in the Premier League on Thursday.
Bradley was writhing in pain near the sideline after clearing the field in stoppage time after landing awkwardly on his left knee.
Martinelli, clearly frustrated, walked up to Bradley, dropped the ball, and drove his knee into his side, forcing the defender out of the playing surface.
Liverpool’s players were furious and jostling and shoving broke out between members of each team. Martinelli received the reservation.
“Connor and I have messaged and have already apologized to him,” Martinelli wrote. Post to Instagram. “I really couldn’t understand how the heat at that time could have seriously injured him.
“We deeply apologize for the way we reacted. We will once again do our best to help Connor recover quickly.”
Liverpool manager Arn Slott said of Bradley’s injury: “We hope for the best, but we fear the worst for Conor Bradley.”
“If our player was on the floor, people might know by now that there’s something wrong with that player. I think you can tell,” Slott said.
“We didn’t want to see one of our players being moved off the pitch if there was the possibility of a serious injury, but that remains to be seen.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville criticized Martinelli’s actions, calling them “absolutely disgraceful”.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta defended Martinelli, saying “he probably doesn’t know” that Bradley was injured.
“Because knowing Gabi, there was zero intent,” he said. “I don’t know what happened to Connor. I hope he’s not a bad guy. Obviously Gabi doesn’t have any intentions of doing anything bad to him.”
“I think the health of the players is much more important than anything else,” Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said when asked about the incident.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
