In extra time, Bradley went off when he injured his knee on the touchline. Nearby Martinelli then threw the ball to the 22-year-old before nudging him with his knee and pushing Bradley, who was in serious discomfort.
Martinelli’s Bradley Push: A Quick Look
• Arteta’s defense: The Arsenal boss insisted Gabriel Martinelli had “zero intent” to cause harm in pushing the injured Conor Bradley.
• Liverpool anger: Dominik Szoboszlai responded, saying players’ health is “much more important” than winning the game.
• Injury update: Bradley left the field on a stretcher with a knee injury; Arne Slot expressed his disgust for the Brazilian’s actions.
This understandably sparked an angry reaction to the Brazilian’s actions, although Arteta has since spoken out Air sports that Martinelli has “no intention” of doing anything bad.
The Arsenal manager said: “Probably he doesn’t know because Gabi (knowing Martinelli) he has no intention whatsoever.
“I don’t know what happened to Conor, but hopefully it’s not bad. Gabi clearly didn’t mean to do anything bad to him.”
While Martinelli may not have intended to injure Bradley further, his reaction was still unacceptable, especially from a player who himself has suffered a serious knee injury in the past.
Dominik Szoboszlai was also asked about his reaction to the incident, with the Hungarian saying: “I see Conor has twisted his knee – I don’t know what’s wrong with him.
“He obviously didn’t want to come back to the field because of wasting time or something like that.
“He was just in so much pain that he couldn’t even think where he was rolling. And then you get there and push him off the field.”
“I understand that you want to win, we want to win too, but I think the player’s health is much more important than anything else.”
Arne Slot added: “I don’t like to see one of my players being moved when he could have such a major injury.”
Dominik Szoboszlai: Liverpool have “taken a step forward”
Although Liverpool did not come away with a win, they at least played better than in previous weeks against the best team in the competition.
They limited Arsenal to zero shots on target after the break and had 65 percent of the ball in the second half.
Szoboszlai felt Liverpool had taken “a step forward” and said: “We showed again that we can compete even against a team at the top of the table. [what] which we will take with us in the coming weeks.”
“Of course it’s not easy to play against such a great team here, but I don’t think any of the teams like to run against the ball in the Premier League, especially when two teams play with such great quality.
“So in the first half we tried to keep the ball as much as possible and in the second half the same. I think the second half a little bit, but in the first half more than in the second half.”
“[We] Hardly any chances have been created, but I think if I have a better day, I will also have a few better shots.”
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