Mikel Arteta has staunchly defended Gabriel Martinelli following his controversial incident with Conor Bradley. In the final moments of stoppage time, the Arsenal winger showed little sympathy for the injured Bradley. The Liverpool defender fell to the floor after jumping to clear the ball, landing awkwardly and clutching his leg in obvious pain.
Instead of comforting the visibly distressed Bradley, Martinelli threw him the ball. The Gunners forward then tried to push him off the pitch, which drew a violent reaction from the opposition. The Reds right-back was stretchered off the field after referee Anthony Taylor managed to break up the ensuing scuffle. After the match, Arteta was asked about the actions of his players.
Arteta replied: “Maybe he doesn’t know. Knowing Gabi, there is zero intention. I don’t know what happened to Conor, but I hope it’s not bad, but obviously Gabi has no intention of doing anything bad to him.”
However, Roy Keane was less forgiving, calling the incident an “absolute disgrace”. “I didn’t like it at all, something like that happened to me once,” the Manchester United legend told Sky Sports.
“I had a bad injury and the player was standing over me. It’s not good. We know football and the player is a good kid. I threw him the ball, I stood over him and I hit him in the knee a little bit.”
“He’s trying to force him away. That behavior is absolutely disgraceful. He’s a good kid to turn himself over. Hopefully Martinelli sees that and hopefully he apologizes. That’s not a good thing.”
Gary Neville was similarly unimpressed with Martinelli. Speaking from the Emirates commentary box, he said: “Yeah, you can’t push him off the pitch. You can’t do that, idiot. It’s really bad. I’m surprised the Liverpool players didn’t come up and punch him. I think an apology is due.”
Shortly after, Neville suggested that Liverpool players should “punch” Martinelli. He added: “He threw the ball at me too. Oh no. Conor Bradley is going to be dragged off on a stretcher, it’s a sad sight.”
“He’s a player who’s been injured. He’s got his hands in his face and, to be honest, I’m mad at Martinelli. To be honest, I don’t know why the Liverpool players hit him and didn’t give him a red card. It’s a complete disgrace.”
Dominik Szoboszlai, who won the Man of the Match award, gave his thoughts on the incident. The Liverpool midfielder said: “It looks like Conor (Bradley) has twisted his knee.
“I don’t know what’s going on with him. He didn’t want to go on the pitch, he wasted his time. He couldn’t think about where he was. And then he (Martinelli) comes pushing him on the pitch.”
“I know they want to win, and we want to win too. But the health of our players comes first!”
