Before the victory against Aston Villa last time out, Arsenal had been on their roughest patch of the season so far, with a loss away to Everton, being held to a draw at home to Brentford followed by a deflating home defeat to their direct title rivals Manchester City. This saw the Gunners drop to second place for the first time since game week two.
After this run of poor form, Gabriel Martinelli was probably the player who received the most criticism but was it all justified?
Gabriel Martinelli has been one of the standout performers for Arsenal this season, scoring eight goals and assisting twice in 23 Premier League games this season. However, his form after the World Cup has dipped and Arsenal fans started questioning whether Martinelli should be replaced with Leandro Trossard in the first XI.
After the Manchester City game, Martinelli spoke to the media saying that he is aware that the team had a slight dip in form, but he promises that Arsenal won’t give up on the title until the very end. He also stated that there are still a lot of games to be played, and that the players know their strengths and weaknesses, and they will stick together.
The Brazilian also backed Takehiro Tomiyasu who made an costlymistake, giving the ball away to Kevin De Bruyne for Manchester City’s opener. He said that he has no doubt that the Japanese will bounce back and that his mistake won’t affect him, nor the team in the long run.
It looks like the Brazilian’s promise came through and Gabriel Martinelli is a man of his word. After Arsenal difficult run, they bounced back at Villa Park last weekend after coming from behind twice to eventually win the game 4-2 and go back to the top of the Premier League table.
Gabriel Martinelli promised the Arsenal fans that they wouldn’t give up on the title & the team certainly showed that at Villa Park. The teams togetherness, desire and fight were all on show for everyone to see.
On top of the three points, it was Gabriel Martinelli who sealed the deal for The Gunners right at the end, by scoring into an open goal in the 98th minute which is only going to boost his confidence ahead of Arsenal’s game against Leicester City this weekend.
