Ian Wright was left surprised that Gabriel Martinelli did not start for Arsenal against Crystal Palace after his two-goal cameo.
The Brazilian was left on the bench against the Eagles on Saturday afternoon. It was just the third time Martinelli has been named as a substitute in the Premier League this term.
Despite being benched, the 22-year-old still made an impact. He netted two practically identical goals in stoppage time as the Gunners secured a 5-0 success.
Speaking after Arsenal’s win, club legend Ian Wright gave his verdict and was shocked that Arteta did not start Martinelli. Speaking to Premier League Productions, he said: “When you get someone like Gabriel Martinelli in that much space, the line was so high, I was very surprised he didn’t start.
“I’m quite pleased he came on and made the impact he did. [His first goal is] a very good finish. Very accurate. Brilliant, superb. [With the second goal] Palace are all over the place, the midfield is nowhere near it, look at how much space he has got.
“Can he finish? Yeah, he can. You’ve got to take advantage when teams are playing poorly like Palace were. You can really punish these teams.”
Martinelli’s double strike saw him take his season’s tally to six goals in 25 appearances in all competitions – that after scoring 15 last term as Arsenal battled with Man City for the Premier League crown. Mikel Arteta was asked to explain why the Brazilian was named on the bench and revealed that it was a case of rotation.
He said: “I think that is going to make him really good. Sometimes when you are in that period, and he had a little issue in the last few days in training so he wasn’t fully, fully fit, that changes momentum, it changes perception, it re-energises you. It’s everything. We don’t have a 30, 40 goals on someone, we have to share them and that’s a good quality in the team.”
Martinelli also spoke out after Arsenal’s win against Palace and underlined the Gunners’ belief that they can now go the distance in the race for the Premier League crown. He said: “It was so important. We know our qualities. It doesn’t matter what people say on the outside, we believe in ourselves,’
“We showed that today and what we can do. We knew we needed a game like that where we had a clean sheet and scored five goals. We will try our best and keep going like that because we know our expectation.”
Martinelli will be aiming to extend his positive form in Arsenal’s next Premier League outing against Nottingham Forest at the end of the month.
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