Arsenal pair Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Arteta have provided their respective post-match reactions to the former being handed his marching orders during the club’s meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday evening.
For those not aware, Brazilian wide-man Martinelli was the recipient of one of the more bizarre red cards of the Premier League campaign at Molineux.
This comes after the 20-year-old saw a pair of yellow cards brandished in his direction one after the other by Michael Oliver, owing to a pair of successive infringements in the space of no more than five seconds:
Just like that, Arsenal are down to 10-men!
Gabriel Martinelli picks up two yellow cards in quick succession and Michael Oliver gives him his marching orders ? pic.twitter.com/poGmbN41sl
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 10, 2022
Boss Mikel Arteta appeared equally as perplexed as many of a Gunners persuasion on the back of the full-time whistle in the west Midlands, admitting that, in all of his time spent in football, he had not seen such a decision made by a referee:
“I’ve never seen something like it. The rules can say probably it’s possible but you [referee] have to be very, very willing to do that.”
“Something I have never seen in my career happened for the first time”
“I have run out of ideas, I think.”
Mikel Arteta reacts to Gabriel Martinelli controversial sending off and Arsenal’s high number of red cards.
? @DannyJamieson pic.twitter.com/nT2IOxVlE5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 10, 2022
Martinelli himself, meanwhile, has too admitted that it remains ‘difficult to accept’ Michael Oliver’s call, albeit whilst reiterating his delight with Arsenal’s performance, in a post across his official social media platforms:
I’m upset because it’s difficult to accept that as a red card. But I am proud the team fought to keep the result and the win ? pic.twitter.com/F5dm3adahc
— Gabriel Martinelli (@gabimartinelli) February 10, 2022
Gabriel makes the difference
Martinelli’s dismissal aside, it of course proved an otherwise positive evening’s work for Arsenal at Molineux on Thursday night.
This comes with the capital giants having clinched all three points, owing to a stout defensive display, manned by the likes of Cedric Soares, Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes.
The latter proved the difference when it comes to the scoreline, too, prodding home the game’s only goal with 25 minutes on the clock to guide Arsenal clear of Manchester United into 5th in the Premier League table, just a point adrift of David Moyes’ West Ham:
Wolves have been knocking but it’s Arsenal who take the lead at the Molineux! ?
A scruffy corner is eventually turned in by Gabriel from close range ? pic.twitter.com/byGlPzLp12
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 10, 2022
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