Liverpool defender Conor Bradley twisted his knee in the top game against Arsenal. He remains lying in pain. Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli still wants to clear his opponent from the pitch – and thus attracts significant criticism.
The game was sluggish, even boring – the logical result was 0-0. However, one scene heated up tempers after the top Premier League game between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC. Liverpool’s Conor Bradley cleared the ball into touch in stoppage time, twisted his knee and ended up lying on the ground injured.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli wanted to take the throw-in quickly and get Bradley out of the way. At first he indicated with his arms that the Reds defender should leave the field, but after all the path to the touchline was short. When that didn’t happen, the Arsenal striker then pushed the injured Bradley. The result: a pack formation, Martinelli rightly saw the yellow card. Contrary to Martinelli’s assumption, Bradley had apparently sustained a serious injury and had to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher.
After the game there was criticism of the Gunners’ Brazilian winger. “This behavior is an absolute disgrace. He is a good boy who has maneuvered himself out of the game. Hopefully Martinelli will look at this and apologize for it. This is not a good thing,” said Manchester United legend Roy Keane on English TV on Sky Sports.
“It’s disrespectful. It’s probably even worse than disrespectful,” added former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge. “It’s disappointing to see it. It takes passion and the desire to win. There is a desire to help your teammates, but as a footballer you have to be respectful.”
Arteta and Slot defend Martinelli
His coach Mikel Arteta defended Martinelli at the press conference. His player was not aware of the severity of the injury. “He’s a lovely guy and probably didn’t realize what was happening,” Arteta said.
The opposing coach Arne Slot also defended Martinelli – and pointed out a general problem in football. “The problem for him, and this is a general problem in football, is that there is so much time play in the final stages of games that sometimes you get annoyed when you want to score a goal and you feel like a player is faking an injury,” said the Liverpool coach. “I can understand that Martinelli may have also thought that this situation was also a matter of time.” He fears “the worst” for his injured protégé.
Martinelli later spoke out on Instagram. He has already written to Bradley and apologized for his behavior. He “didn’t understand in the heat of the moment that he was seriously injured,” Martinelli wrote in a story.
In terms of sport, the top duel had only a few highlights. Offensive star Wirtz also remained largely inconspicuous. Arsenal controlled the game in the first half, but without posing a real threat to score. The Reds had by far the best opportunity in the first 45 minutes when Bradley’s shot from distance hit the crossbar (27th minute).
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Not much happened after the break either. Liverpool now seemed much more active, but could hardly create any chances either. Arsenal only managed to score their first goal in the second half in stoppage time. Leaders Arsenal extended their lead over their first pursuer Manchester City to six points. Liverpool are still fourth and are still 14 points behind the Londoners.
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