Gabby Agbonlahor has bizarrely hit out at Gabriel Martinelli after Arsenal’s win at Aston Villa on Saturday, claiming on talkSPORT that his premature celebrations before scoring in stoppage-time were disrespectful.
Arsenal are now back on top of the Premier League table. It appeared that the Gunners’ title push may be losing steam after they failed to win for a third game running in midweek.
And the wheels were falling further off when Ollie Watkins gave the Villans an early lead against Mikel Arteta’s side.
Agbonlahor bizarrely criticises Martinelli
They actually went ahead for a second time in the game, with Philippe Coutinho rounding off a brilliant team move. However, Arsenal were able to fight back in some style.
They scored three times after the break to turn the game around. Oleksandr Zinchenko equalised just after the hour mark. And there was late twist in stoppage-time.
Emi Martinez turned Jorginho’s strike into his own net. And as Villa then pushed for an equaliser, Fabio Vieira played Martinelli in. And the Brazilian ran the ball into an empty net with Martinez scrambling back towards his goal after coming up for a Villa corner.
Martinelli threw his arms up when he was a couple of yards out from goal. And that seemingly annoyed Agbonlahor in the latest example of strange criticism from the pundit.
Admittedly, Agbonlahor is a former Villa player. However, it is hard to understand his point as he hit out at Martinelli.
“There was part of the game I didn’t like. I didn’t like Martinelli, for me, running through, empty net and he’s celebrating before he’s put the ball in the back of the net,” he told talkSPORT.
“He’s been rubbish for a month. And he’s scoring a tap-in and celebrating before he scores. Lack of respect for your teammates, I didn’t like it.”
It is so odd to criticise Martinelli for celebrating early. When he did so, the Arsenal forward was all but in the back of the net. It would have been harder to miss.
I must admit, I do not remember Agbonlahor criticising Ross Barkley when he did the same against Bournemouth back in 2017. And Barkley’s celebration was even more audacious as he was further out and at a tighter angle.
He cannot seriously believe that Martinelli has done anything wrong. That is a special moment at the end of a turbulent week for Arsenal.
And Martinelli hasn’t been good enough of late. So of course, that moment is going to mean more.
And let’s not forget, the goalkeeper Martinelli did not have to beat was named the best in the world by a certain Gabby Agbonlahor after a World Cup in which the Argentinian’s antics led to criticism from many.
