Old Gabriel Martinelli footage surfaces to reveal staggering Arsenal hypocrisy after Liverpool incident
Arsenal and Gabriel Martinelli have been made to look ridiculous after an old clip resurfaced from a 2021 incident against West Ham.
Arsenal were aiming to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points with a win over Liverpool on Thursday, but were unable to do so on home turf.
Liverpool held the Gunners to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium, as a drab affair only really came to life in added time after Martinelli was seen trying to haul the injured Conor Bradley off the field of play to continue attacking.
The incident sparked fury among Liverpool players and fans, as the Northern Irishman was quickly taken off on a stretcher while Martinelli was booked by Anthony Taylor.
Arsenal’s Brazilian winger has since apologised to Bradley, via social media, and fans of other clubs have since spotted an old incident that has highlighted his hypocrisy in trying to get him off the pitch.
2021 video shows off Mikel Arteta and Gabriel Martinelli hypocrisy
Many Arsenal fans rushed to Martinelli’s defence online, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, with claims that he was well within his rights to try to usher Bradley onto the sidelines.
There was a notion among them that the Liverpool defender had purposely slowed the game down by shuffling back onto the field of play, even though replays showed that he had never actually left it.
With Gunners supporters trying to justify the situation, Liverpool fans have taken it upon themselves to seek out an old clip posted to X by TNT Sports in 2021, which shows Arteta picking an injured Martinelli up and urging him to go down on the pitch to stop play.
The game in question saw Arsenal run out 2-0 winners over the Hammers, while Martinelli was genuinely injured and had to go off in the 82nd minute as a result of his problem.
Could Martinelli face retrospective action for the Bradley incident?
Martinelli has faced a lot of vitriol and anger towards his actions following the game, with the incident made to look even worse after Arne Slot’s post-match reveal that he “fears the worst” regarding Bradley’s injury.
Former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, has exclusively told Football Insider that Taylor should have sent Martinelli off for endangering the safety of an opponent.
He has called upon the relevant authorities to review the incident, but admitted it is unlikely that any further action will be taken against the Brazilian, as match referee Taylor spotted the incident and brandished a yellow in real-time.