PREMIER LEAGUE UPDATE: GABRIEL MARTINELLI FACES BACKLASH FOR PUSHING INJURED CONOR BRADLEY
Arsenal’s draw with Liverpool turned ugly as Gabriel Martinelli shoved an injured Conor Bradley. See why Gary Neville is fuming.
Gary Neville didn’t hold back on Gabriel Martinelli after Arsenal’s tense draw with Liverpool, especially after Martinelli clashed with Conor Bradley in stoppage time.
As the match wound down, Arsenal’s frustration was all over the pitch. Then, in the added time, Martinelli lost his cool. Bradley had just cleared the ball and then went down, clutching his left leg. He looked like he was really hurt, but Martinelli, clearly fed up, first threw the ball at him, then tried to shove him off the pitch to keep the game going. Bradley didn’t budge, and Martinelli’s push just seemed to make things worse. The Liverpool players weren’t having it—Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister stormed over, tempers flared, and the referee ended up booking Martinelli and Ibrahima Konate, who pushed Martinelli back. Declan Rice had to step in and separate the people.
The whole thing left a bad taste after what was an intense match. Gary Neville was furious on Sky Sports. He called Martinelli an “idiot” and tore into him for shoving an injured player. “You can’t push him off the pitch. You idiot. That is so poor,” Neville fumed. “Honestly, I’m shocked none of the Liverpool players just went for him. He owes an apology.”
Szoboszlai, speaking after the game, said, “I saw Conor twist his knee. He wasn’t trying to waste time; he was just in pain. Pushing him off the pitch—no. The player’s health matters more.”
Roy Keane also weighed in, thinking back to his own playing days. “I didn’t like it. It’s happened to me before, when I was badly injured, and a player stood over me. Not good. Martinelli threw the ball at him, stood over him, and even caught him with a knee. I’m surprised Liverpool’s players didn’t react more. That behaviour is a disgrace. Hopefully, Martinelli looks back and apologises.”
Martinelli’s yellow card sparked a scuffle, and both benches were fired up. Neville even said he thought a Liverpool player should have given Martinelli a “whack,” while Keane just called it “absolutely disgraceful.”
After the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tried to defend his player, saying, “He probably didn’t know. Knowing Gabi, there’s no intention to hurt anyone.” He added he’d speak to Martinelli about it.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot tried to see both sides: “I don’t know Martinelli, but he seems like a nice guy. The problem is, with so much time wasted these days, players get frustrated. I’m sure that if he had known how severe the injury was, he wouldn’t have done it. But it doesn’t look good.”
Arsenal never really got going in the game. They barely threatened Liverpool’s goal in the second half and missed their chance to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points. Martinelli, who came on for Leandro Trossard in the second half, only managed one shot in 26 minutes. Arteta tried five different subs searching for a winner, including Myles Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel Jesus, Eberechi Eze, and Noni Madueke. On the Liverpool side, Joe Gomez came on for Bradley late on.
Daniel Sturridge, watching on, called Martinelli’s behaviour “disappointing.” He said, “Passion is one thing, but you have to be respectful. When someone is down injured, you’ve got to recognise that. We’ve all been there—it’s more than disrespectful.”
Keane summed it up: “Know your players. He’s obviously injured. Martinelli’s not usually like that. Not good at all.”
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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