Gabriel Martinelli: Arsenal forward's push on Conor Bradley criticised by Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Daniel Sturridge
Gabriel Martinelli dropped ball on injured Conor Bradley before attempting to push him off the pitch; Gary Neville and Roy Keane label incident 'disgraceful'; Arsenal winger has since apologised for behaviour; Mikel Arteta says Martinelli would have had 'no intention' to harm full-back
Friday 9 January 2026 10:59, UK
Gabriel Martinelli has apologised for pushing Conor Bradley during Arsenal's goalless clash with Liverpool, conduct which Gary Neville and Roy Keane condemned as 'disgraceful'.
The Arsenal winger attempted to push Bradley off the pitch when he was down having suffered what appeared to be a serious injury at the Emirates.
Martinelli's shove on Bradley sparked a furious reaction from Liverpool's players and staff. The Arsenal forward also dropped the ball on the full-back, who was stretchered off and left the Emirates on crutches and wearing a supportive brace on his left knee.
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Martinelli did later reveal on Instagram that he had apologised to Bradley for his actions, adding that he didn't "understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment".
He wrote: "Conor and I have messaged and I have already apologised to him.
"I really didn't understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment.
"I want to say I'm deeply sorry for reacting.
"Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery."
Speaking immediately after the incident, Sky Sports' Gary Neville said on commentary: "You can't push him off the pitch! You cannot do that. That is so poor. I think an apology is needed.
"Bradley is being stretchered off. I'm fuming with Martinelli to be honest. Disgraceful."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had earlier defended Martinelli, saying the winger was unaware of the severity of Bradley's injury.
"Gabi is an incredible, lovely guy and probably he didn't realise what happened," he said in his press conference.
"I hope that Conor is well. I will have a word with him now to understand that. But probably he didn't recognise what happened."
After the match, Roy Keane added: "It's not good. We know football, the player is a good lad.
"Throwing the ball at him, standing over him and getting a little knee on him. He tries to force him off.
"That behaviour is an absolute disgrace. He's a good boy to roll over himself. Hopefully, Martinelli will have a look at it and hopefully, he'll apologise for it. Not good stuff that."
Daniel Sturridge added: "It's disappointing to see. There's passion and there's being a winner, there's wanting to help your team-mates, but you've got to be respectful as a footballer.
"Injuries are never a nice feeling. Martinelli is thinking time wasting but you've got to be self aware enough to see the guy is down. You've been there before.
"It's disrespectful. It's probably worse than disrespectful."
Bradley came closest to scoring in the goalless contest, hitting the bar after a defensive mix-up from the Gunners.
Arteta: No intention to harm Bradley
Speaking to Sky Sports, Arteta added that there would have been "no intention" from Martinelli to harm Bradley.
"He probably doesn't know (that Bradley was injured)," Arteta said.
"I don't know what happened to Conor but hopefully he is OK. But obviously there is no intention from Gabi to do anything bad to him.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta added: "Knowing Gabi, if anybody knows Gabi, he's an incredible, lovely guy, and probably he didn't realise what happened.
"I will have a word with him now to understand that, but probably he didn't recognise whknoat happened."
Slot: I fear the worst for Bradley
Liverpool boss Arne Slot said after the game that he feared "the worst" for Bradley, who has already missed considerable time out this season through injury.
"I don't know Gabriel Martinelli but he comes across as a nice guy," Slot said.
"The problem for him, and it's a problem in general in football, is that there is so much time-wasting in the final parts of games that sometimes you can be annoyed when you want to score a goal and you feel a player is pretending to be injured.
"I'm 100 per cent sure if he knew what the injury might be, he wouldn't do that. But it doesn't look great if he has the injury, which we fear he might have, of course.
"Football, time-wasting, diving has come to a situation that players think in the 94th minute that probably it's happening again, because I've seen it happening against us so many times this season.
"I can understand that Martinelli might have thought that this was time-wasting as well."
'Title far from a formality for lacklustre Arsenal'
Sky Sports' Nick Wright at the Emirates Stadium:
Arsenal are six points clear. A goalless draw with Liverpool is far from disastrous. But this title is far from a formality if they play as poorly as they did in the second half.
Manchester City's failure to beat Brighton had presented Mikel Arteta's side with the chance to move eight points clear but it never looked particularly likely on a frustrating evening for the hosts at a wet and windy Emirates Stadium.
There were at least promising moments for them in the first half, but Liverpool defended resolutely and continued to do so after half-time, when Arsenal's modest attacking threat dwindled further and the visitors were able to dominate possession.
It was uncharacteristic, especially given Arsenal had a string of goals in the 15-minute period after half-time in recent games. But this time the onslaught never materialised.
They almost nicked it with a Gabriel header at the end. The defender was left with his head in his hands. But that was one of only three Arsenal shots in the second period, all of which came in stoppage time. Liverpool were fully deserving of their point.
