Mikel Arteta delivers update on Gabriel Martinelli injury
Gabriel Martinelli sustained a muscle injury during Sunday’s Premier League victory over Everton, according to Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal.
Martinelli was extremely impressive in the opening minutes against the Toffees at Goodison Park, even sneaking in behind the home defense to score in the 20th minute, but the goal was disallowed due to an Eddie Nketiah offside following a VAR review.
A few minutes after netting that offside goal, Martinelli collapsed with an injury and was removed; he was replaced by Leandro Trossard, the eventual game-winner.
Pressed about Martinelli’s condition after the victory, Arteta revealed that tests will be required to ascertain the extent of the injury.
“He felt it after the action for the run on the goal, and normally he’s not one of the players to have muscular problems but he had to come off, so let’s see,” the boss explained.
Arteta also expressed his elation at Arsenal’s first victory at Goodison Park in more than six years, insisting that his team “fully deserved” the victory.
He elaborated, “Six years without a victory here is a long time, so we had to learn from our mistakes and become better.
I am ecstatic not only for the victory, but also for the manner in which we achieved it, the manner in which we performed, our dominance on the field, and our presence. Our victory was completely deserved.
“I believe we had numerous other opportunities to put the ball in the final third and place a player in the penalty area in order to score.”
To Everton’s credit, they defended the box exceptionally well, and when we opened them up, they made massive interventions. It’s wonderful to have multiple ways to score goals; it gives you more options and makes you more unpredictable.
The victory propels the Gunners into the Premier League’s top four, with 13 points out of a potential 15 through the first five weeks.
Mikel Arteta delivers update on Gabriel Martinelli injury