Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli has apologised after trying to push injured Liverpool defender Conor Bradley off the pitch during Thursday’s tense 0-0 draw at the Emirates.
The incident happened deep into stoppage time when Northern Ireland international Bradley landed awkwardly near the touchline while chasing the ball. He immediately went to ground, clutching his knee in clear pain.
As play stopped, Martinelli picked up the ball, dropped it onto the Liverpool full-back and then shoved him in the back, apparently trying to get him off the pitch so the match could restart.
That sparked an immediate confrontation between players from both sides. Martinelli and Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté were both shown yellow cards for their involvement.
Bradley received treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off. He was later seen leaving the stadium on crutches and wearing a knee brace.
The moment drew strong criticism from former Manchester United players Gary Neville and Roy Keane. Neville called Martinelli’s actions “absolutely disgraceful” and labelled the Arsenal player an “idiot” during live commentary.
Martinelli later issued a public apology on social media, saying he had already spoken to Bradley privately.
“I really didn’t understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment,” Martinelli wrote on Instagram.
“I want to say I’m deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot came to Martinelli’s defence after the match, suggesting the wider problem of time-wasting in football may have played a role in the flashpoint.
“I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy,” Slot said.
“I think the problem for him – and it’s a problem in general in football – is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending they are injured late in games. When you’re desperate to score, you can get annoyed and think someone is wasting time.
“You can’t expect Martinelli to think clearly in the 94th minute.”
Slot said it was still too early to know how serious Bradley’s injury is, but insisted Martinelli would have acted differently if he had realised the severity.
“I am 100% sure that if he knew what the injury might be, he would never do that,” Slot said. “But it doesn’t look good if the injury is as bad as we fear.
“I’ve seen time-wasting and diving against us so many times this season that I can understand why Martinelli might have thought this was the same situation.
“He couldn’t have thought, ‘This is Liverpool, they don’t do this.’”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta also defended his player, describing Martinelli as an “incredible, lovely guy.”
He echoed Slot’s view that there was no bad intent and said Martinelli likely didn’t realise how badly Bradley was hurt.
“I don’t know what happened to Conor, but hopefully it’s not serious,” Arteta said. “There was obviously no intention from Gabi to harm him.”
Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai offered a very different perspective, saying Bradley was clearly in too much pain to even think about time-wasting.
“He didn’t want to come back on the pitch for time-wasting,” Szoboszlai said. “He was in so much pain he couldn’t even think where he rolled before Martinelli pushed him.
“I understand wanting to win – we want to win too – but a player’s health is much more important than anything else.”
‘I didn’t like it at all’
Neville, who was on co-commentary at the time, did not hide his anger when the incident unfolded.
“You can’t push him off the pitch,” he said. “You cannot do that, you idiot.
“That’s so poor. I’m surprised the Liverpool players haven’t gone over and had a right go at him. An apology is needed.
“Honestly, I don’t know how the Liverpool players didn’t go over there and whack him and take a red card. Absolutely disgraceful.”
Neville later softened his tone slightly, saying he believed Martinelli thought Bradley was trying to waste time, but added that “you could see that was a bad one.”
Roy Keane was equally unimpressed after the final whistle.
“I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it at all,” Keane said. “I’m surprised the Liverpool players didn’t go after Martinelli more.
“You don’t know what injury the player has. It looks serious, and you’re trying to push him off the pitch? That’s not good at all.”
