Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is sure that Gabriel Martinelli did not mean to do anything bad to injured Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley.
The Spanish tactician spoke to Sky Sports after the game between Arsenal and Liverpool, which finished 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium and which ended with something of a fracas between both sets of players.
Martinelli has been widely criticised for trying to push Bradley off the pitch while he was seriously injured, with the Reds defender ending up going off on a stretcher.
The Brazil international seemed to really lose his head as he felt Bradley was time-wasting even though he clearly had a bad problem that meant he couldn’t carry on playing.
Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Martinelli incident with Conor Bradley
Watch below as Arteta insists Martinelli must not have known how bad the injury was, as he can’t imagine his player intending to cause any further harm to a fellow professional…
?? “Obviously there is no intention from Gabi to do anything bad to him”
Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Martinelli would not intentionally hurt Conor Bradley. pic.twitter.com/x4sJnh0ZEK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 8, 2026
“Probably he doesn’t know,” Arteta said. “Because knowing Gabi there’s zero intention. I don’t know what happened to Conor but hopefully it’s not bad.
“But obviously there is no intention from Gabi to do anything bad to him.”
Pundits criticise Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli
Also speaking on Sky’s coverage of the game, pundits Daniel Sturridge and Roy Keane were hugely unimpressed with Martinelli’s behaviour.
Watch below as Sturridge described it as “worse than disrespectful”, while Keane thought it was clear that faking an injury is not the kind of thing Bradley would do…
“It’s even worse than disrespectful”
Daniel Sturridge and Roy Keane react to Gabriel Martinelli’s actions in the final minutes of Arsenal vs Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/K7vLrnn6iD
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 8, 2026
Martinelli is a key player for Arsenal and can be a great talent to watch when he’s on his game, though this was an ugly incident that he’ll need to put behind him.
No one wants to see antics like this on the pitch and it’s a shame that it was the only really noteworthy incident from a pretty bland game at the Emirates.
