OPINION: ROY KEANE IS RIGHT—MARTINELLI’S LACK OF RESPECT HAS NO PLACE IN FOOTBALL
Arsenal and Liverpool play out a 0-0 draw, but Martinelli’s clash with an injured Conor Bradley steals the headlines. See the fallout.
Arsenal and Liverpool ended up with a goalless draw at the Emirates tonight. Even without a flurry of chances, the match still had its moments—both teams kept things lively, if not exactly clinical.
Arsenal looked sharper throughout most of the first half. Bukayo Saka, in particular, caused Liverpool plenty of problems down the right, but, honestly, they didn’t manage to create much in terms of real chances.
Liverpool, on the other hand, had the best shot of that opening half. Arsenal’s defence got themselves in a mess, Conor Bradley pounced, and his shot rattled the bar. That was as close as either side got before halftime.
After the break, Liverpool settled in and took more control. They kept the ball well, but neither team really threatened in attack. Liverpool seemed happy enough to let things drift to a draw, and Arsenal’s attack just never clicked together.
So, in the end, things fizzled out. The game sort of drifted to a dull 0-0.
But the real talking point came near the end. Conor Bradley went down with what looked like a nasty knee injury. While he was still on the ground, Gabriel Martinelli threw the ball at him and shoved him—pretty shocking stuff. The ref booked Martinelli, and Gary Neville didn’t hold back, calling him “an idiot” on commentary.
Roy Keane went even further on Sky Sports. He tore into Martinelli, saying he’d crossed a line:
“I didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all. I’ve been there myself—bad injury, player standing over me. It’s just not on. You could see Bradley was hurt. First, you throw the ball at him, then stand over him, then give him a little knee if you look closely. He’s just trying to force him off.
I’m surprised Liverpool’s players didn’t react more. Martinelli, with that behaviour, is a disgrace. He’s the type to roll around when he gets a knock. Not good scenes. Hopefully, he’ll look back and apologise.
You know your players—Bradley isn’t the sort to fake injury. When you’re standing over someone like that, you’ve no idea how badly they’re hurt. It looked pretty serious, and you’re still trying to push him off the pitch? Not good.”
Martinelli’s bound to get hammered for this, and honestly, he deserves it. It was a terrible look.
As for Bradley, Liverpool fans will be crossing their fingers that it’s not as bad as it looked. But seeing him stretchered off didn’t give anyone much hope.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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