‘Gabriel Martinelli snubs Christian Norgaard over Arsenal vs Brentford incident’
Gabriel Martinelli rejected Christian Norgaard’s attempted apology after the midfielder’s scything challenge during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Coming into the game off the high against Real Madrid in the Champions League, the Gunners’ familiar theme in the league continued in their draw with Brentford at the Emirates.
Arsenal were pegged back in the game after Thomas Partey’s opener, with Yoane Wissa scoring his 15th Premier League goal of the season.
However, an incident occurred in the first-half between Martinelli and Norgaard, with the defensive midfielder taking down the Brazilian in a cynical foul to stop Arsenal from breaking away.
The Denmark international only received a booking from Simon Hooper, who was not sent to the pitch-side monitor by VAR.
Norgaard then tried to make peace with Martinelli when the side’s came towards the tunnel at the break, but the winger did not respond well to the gesture.
Gabriel Martinelli was ‘having none of it’ before the break
The altercation was first reported by beIN SPORT, but later picked up by Carrie Brown, in which he said: “Norgaard tried to apologise to Martinelli on the way into the tunnel at HT.
“Martinelli was having none of it”.
Christian Norgaard’s challenge deemed ‘reckless’ but not ‘dangerous’
Football Insider Verdict
The talk from the commentary team after the tackle was that Norgaard‘s tackle was deemed “reckless” but not “dangerous” and subsequently cleared by VAR.
There’s no doubt that the Brentford captain knew what he was doing in bringing Martinelli down and even though there did not seem to be any malicious intent to hurt the player, it was a poor tackle.
However ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett told Football Insider that the challenge did contain some malice and Norgaard should have been sent off.
| Arsenal stats | Brentford stats |
| Possession – 64% | Possession – 36% |
| Total shots – 14 | Total shots – 3 |
| On target – 3 | On target – 2 |
| Off target – 5 | Off target – 1 |
Norgaard caught the Brazilian high on his leg and as a result got their legs tangled, with Martinelli falling awkwardly.
It was another example of whether an incident is a clear and obvious mistake from the official on the pitch and enough for VAR to suggest a further look.
Whether Mikel Arteta believes Norgaard should have been dismissed or not, the Spaniard will be disappointed to not take all three points after a dominant display.