‘Don’t be too tough on him’: Pundit can’t understand why 21-year-old Arsenal player is being criticised after win
Stuart Pearce has told talkSPORT that he has no issue with Gabriel Martinelli celebrating before scoring for Arsenal in their win over Aston Villa, instead insisting that he has an actual problem with those who complain about his actions after the game.
Martinelli put the exclamation point on a dramatic win for Mikel Arteta’s side in the 98th minute on Saturday. The Brazilian was played in by Fabio Vieira. And he was left with a clear run on goal with Emi Martinez heading up for a corner beforehand.
It was apparent for some time that Martinelli was going to score. And with that, the 21-year-old threw his arms up from the edge of the area to prematurely celebrate the Gunners’ fourth goal.
Pearce defends Martinelli after Arsenal goal
Gabby Agbonlahor bizarrely hit out at Martinelli and claimed that the celebration was disrespectful. Of course, Agbonlahor has connections to Villa. And he is known for some interesting takes, shall we say.
Pearce however, hinted that the only issue he had was with those who took exception with Martinelli’s actions.
“I have no problem with him doing whatever he does. If you’ve got a niggle with it, don’t come out afterwards as a rival player and moan about it, sort it out on the pitch,” he told talkSPORT.
“We’re in the entertainment business. The relief of running the length of the pitch and putting the ball in the net, you know the game’s won at 4-2, it was a big statement victory by Arsenal. All of those things thrown in the mix, don’t be too tough on him.”
It really depends on how you view Martinelli’s actions. For some, it may have been incredibly arrogant to celebrate in that manner. However, for most, it was a young player failing to contain his excitement with his side on the verge of a massive three points.
Even if Martinelli was being cocky, it came against a side who boast Martinez. The Argentinian is the king of riling up opposition players and fans with his antics in games.
Some would have therefore, enjoyed seeing Martinelli embarrass Villa a little on that occasion.
And crucially, while he had a bit of work to do, it cannot be forgotten that a Premier League player would probably score 99 times out of 100 from the position the Arsenal forward found himself in. So you can understand why he felt it was job done at that exact moment.
