Mikel Arteta responds to Arne Slot's comments about Gabriel Martinelli

Arne Slot was praised for giving a reasoned response to Gabriel Martinelli shoving Conor Bradley after the Liverpool right-back had suffered a serious knee injury against Arsenal

Mikel Arteta said that Arne Slot "spoke brilliantly" in the aftermath of the Gabriel Martinelli-Conor Bradley incident(Image: 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Plc)

Mikel Arteta has praised Arne Slot for how he reacted to the incident involving Gabriel Martinelli and Conor Bradley last week.

Martinelli came in for heaps of criticism for his reaction to Bradley going down injured during second-half stoppage time in Arsenal's draw with Liverpool, as he shoved the stricken Reds' right-back off the pitch in a bid to try and get the game back under way.

The Brazilian's act sparked an angry reaction from Bradley's Liverpool teammates, and he also received a hammering from pundits like Gary Neville and Roy Keane. Martinelli, though, found an unlikely supporter in Liverpool boss Slot, who attempted to explain the Arsenal forward's thought process on Thursday.

"I don't know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy," said Slot. "I think the problem for him - and it's a problem in general in football - is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending that they are injured in the final parts of the game and during the game, that you can sometimes be annoyed if you want to try to score a goal that you think the player is time-wasting.

"You cannot ask Martinelli to think so clear in the 94th minute."

Arteta was asked about the response to Martinelli's shove after Arsenal's win over Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup – a game in which Martinelli scored a hat-trick – and the Gunners boss was keen to praise the way that Slot responded to the incident.

Conor Bradley sustained a serious knee injury against Arsenal(Image: 2026 Marc Atkins)

"It's part of football and then it's how you take it," Arteta said of the criticism aimed at Martinelli.

"But he knew inside the reason why he did what he did. I think Arne Slot spoke brilliantly after the game, speaking of your opponent in the manner that he explained the situation and the fact that Gabi had no intention whatsoever to damage any player.

"And yeah, that's personality. Come in and talk on the pitch, which is the best part of it."

Martinelli issued an apology to Bradley after Thursday's goalless draw, writing on Instagram: "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."