Slot unhappy with Martinelli after Bradley incident in Arsenal-Liverpool match

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool manager Arne Slot was unhappy with the conduct of Gabriel Martinelli after the Arsenal winger bundled injured defender Conor Bradley off the field in the final seconds of the teams’ 0-0 draw in the Premier League on Thursday.

Bradley was writhing around in pain near the sideline after landing awkwardly on his left ankle making a clearance in stoppage time.

A clearly frustrated Martinelli walked up to Bradley, dropped the ball on him, stuck his knee into his side and then rolled the defender outside the playing surface.

Liverpool’s players were livid and it sparked some pushing and shoving between members of each team. Martinelli received a booking.

Commentating on Sky Sports, former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville called Martinelli’s behavior “absolutely disgraceful.”

After the match, Slot said of Bradley’s injury: “Let’s hope for the best, but I fear the worst for Conor Bradley.”

The Dutchman added: “I think if a player of ours is on the floor, people might know by now that … there is something wrong with that player. I think you could see this.

“I didn’t like to see one of my players being moved out of the pitch if he might have such a big injury, which we don’t know yet.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta defended Martinelli, saying “probably he doesn’t know” Bradley was injured.

“Because knowing Gabi, there’s zero intention,” he said. “I don’t know what happened to Conor. Hopefully he’s not bad. Obviously there’s no intention of Gabi to do anything bad to him.”

Asked about the incident, Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said: “I think the health of a player is much more important than something else.”

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The Associated Press