With Liverpool and Arsenal playing out a goalless draw heading into stoppage time and the Gunners pushing into the attacking third in search of a winner, Liverpool’s Conor Bradley suffered a potentially serious knee injury that forced him to leave the field on a stretcher. He is expected to be sidelined for a considerable time.
The situation was potentially made worse by Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli, a player known for dawdling and faking an injury (earlier in the game Martinelli had been down for over a minute holding his face after a Liverpool defender made contact with his midsection), who reacted as if Bradley was faking.
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Martinelli lashed out, throwing the ball to Bradley, putting his hands on his face and neck, making significant exacerbating contact with his injured knee, and attempting in various ways to pull and push Bradley off the field so the game could restart. Martinelli received only one yellow card. He is not expected to face further punishment.
This is the latest information based on widespread reporting the day after the incident, with match referee Anthony Taylor reportedly communicating that he had in fact clearly witnessed Martinelli’s actions, meaning there would be no reason for the FA to attempt to re-litigate the Arsenal player’s petulant and unsportsmanlike outburst.
While pundits were quick to criticize Martinelli, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Liverpool manager Arne Slot seemed eager to put the incident behind them, with Arteta suggesting Martinelli “didn’t realize what happened”, while Slot said: “I can understand Martinelli thinking this was a waste of time.”