The Arsenal youngster opened the scoring for the Gunners and helped turn the game on its head for Freddie Ljungberg’s side en route to a much-needed win for the Emirates Stadium side.
Arsenal legend Alan Smith has spoken about Freddie Ljungberg being “vindicated” in his decision to start Gabriel Martinelli against West Ham as the Gunners finally stopped the rot with their Monday night Premier League victory (Sky Sports).
The Emirates Stadium side headed to the London Stadium in a torrid run of form, having failed to win in their last nine matches, and things initially appeared like they were going from bad to worse as the Hammers took the lead through Angelo Ogbonna.
Ljungberg had opted to hand Martinelli his full Premier League debut, and while it was a decision which went down well amongst many fans when the team news was announced, the largely insipid Arsenal performance in the first two thirds of the game suggested that another defeat was on the cards.
However, in the 60th minute, the 18-year-old Brazilian – already one of the team’s better performers on the night – turned the game on its head with the equaliser, a clinical and measured strike into the bottom corner, and his eighth goal of the season.
“What a big goal for him and for his football club,” Smith said on Sky Sports (21:22) following the equaliser. “Boy did they need that. Ljungberg’s decision to pick Martinelli vindicated!”
From then on, the Gunners added two more, through Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to eventually claim a 3-1 victory, but Martinelli’s superb display on his full PL debut certainly bodes well for the future – both his own and that of the team going forward.
At 18 years and 174 days, Martinelli is the youngest player to score for Arsenal on his first Premier League start for the club, and also the fourth-youngest Gunners scorer in the Premier League after Cesc Fabregas, Serge Gnabry and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Sky Sports).
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