Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli has apologized after attempting to push injured Liverpool defender Conor Bradley off the pitch during Thursday night’s goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium. The right-back landed awkwardly and remained on the ground throughout stoppage time.
Bradley was chasing the ball and appeared to injure his knee while avoiding danger on the touchline. He fell to the grass and immediately grabbed his knee, delaying Arsenal’s restart.
After his throw-in was blocked, Martinelli dropped the ball to the full-backs before protesting the Northern Ireland international’s presence. He then pushed him from behind in an attempt to move him off the pitch to continue the game.
Ibrahima Konate received a yellow card for his role in the confrontation between the two teams, while Martinelli was also booked. Bradley appeared to have suffered serious injuries and was later taken away on a stretcher.
After the match, Martinelli apologized to Bradley on social media and expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery. “Connor and I have been texting and have already apologized to him,” she wrote on her Instagram Story.
“We really did not realize that the heat at that time could have seriously injured him. We deeply apologize for the reaction. We will once again do everything in our power to help Conor make a speedy recovery.”
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane called Martinelli a “disgrace” during a Premier League match broadcast on Sky Sports. “It’s not good. We know football and the players are good guys,” he said.
“Throwing him the ball, standing over him and giving him a little knee bump. He tries to force him off. That behavior is absolutely disgraceful.
“He’s a good kid to roll over on his own. Hopefully Martinelli sees that and hopefully he apologizes. That’s not a good thing.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slott defended Martinelli in his post-match press conference. “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli, but he seems like a nice guy,” he said.
“I think the problem for him, and it’s a problem in football as a whole, is that he wastes so much time and a lot of times a player pretends to be injured late in the game or during the game, and it can be frustrating when that player tries to score a goal that he thinks is a waste of time.
“You can’t ask Martinelli to think more clearly in the 94th minute.”
“If he knew what the injury was, I’m 100% sure he never would have done that,” Slott continued of Bradley’s injury.
“If he’s injured, it’s not a good situation that we’re worried about. But the waste of time, the diving… we’ve seen it happen against us so many times this season, so I can understand that Martinelli might have thought this was also a waste of time.”
“He couldn’t have thought, ‘This is Liverpool, they don’t do that.’
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also backed the Brazilian, insisting he had no malicious intent. “I don’t know what happened to Conor, but I hope it’s not bad,” Arteta said.
“But clearly Gabi has no intention of doing anything bad to him.”
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