The performance of Arsenal‘s Gabriel Martinelli v Liverpool was something to behold today.
Martinelli, a £6 million signing in 2019, opened the scoring within a minute as the Gunners enjoyed a blistering start at the Emirates Stadium.
The 21-year-old also played a massive role in helping Arsenal re-establish their lead, delivering the assist which led to Bukayo Saka making it 2-1 just before the half-time whistle.
Martinelli always seems to produce fireworks against this opposition, with the player scoring twice during a 5-5 League Cup draw a few years ago.
And Martin Keown has told BeIN Sport that the Brazil international was ‘quite magnificent’ today.
He said: “Martinelli was quite magnificent in the build-up to that goal. Of course he grabbed one himself and he’s probably been Arsenal’s stand-out player.”
The South American attacker was certainly majorly less involved after the break and struggled to be as effective.
But Arsenal, as a whole, were brilliant throughout and they gained their lead again on 76 minutes when Saka slotted home an excellent penalty, after Gabriel Jesus was fouled by Thiago inside the box.
In the end, the Gunners held on to move back to the summit of the Premier League with a very hard-fought win.
And despite fading in the second half, Martinelli’s first-half impact laid massive foundations for the three points.
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